Day Five with fashion blogger Textstyles.ca behind the scenes at New York Fashion Week, Fall 2011

Photography by Stefania Yarhi

Keri Hilson, Kanye West and Vanessa Hudgens at Jeremy Scott

8:30 am: It’s getting harder to wake up. This morning my feet feel like lead weights. But gotta get to the tents!

9:10 am: First show is Yigal Azrouel. Love the collegiate vibe: Tailored suiting, knits with tails, tuxedo pants and, naturally, plenty of layering. The palette was so beautifully neutral, but I adored the electric pops of colour (reminds me of Jil Sander‘s spring show). An orange car coat is calling my name… Stefania… (Don’t clothes whisper your name?)

10:00 am: Searching for a coffee that isn’t Starbucks. This has been my other mission for fashion week: the  great Americano. So far, niente.

11:30 am: Work, work, and more work. My fingers ache.

1:00 pm: Now for Jeremy Scott, I’m expecting the usual London street-inspired day-glo brights and the man did not disappoint. Riffing on Coca-Cola branding, his logos, on red sequined dresses, was cheeky: “Every One is GOD.”  Then came the candy-raver sweaters and mile-high platforms stomping down the runway. His shows are about the spectacle and everyone knows it and loves it. The finale was my favourite:  a blue  skin tight, floor-length gown with the Superwoman crest and a 10 foot red cape/train. Sitting front row, was Kanye “I don’t do photos anymore” West.

Superwoman finale gown at Jeremy Scott

1:45 pm: Head up to Chelsea where I’ve got some time to kill before the next presentation. Thankfully I find a great pub, The Half King to watch Barcelona vs. Arsenal. You have no idea how well football compliments fashion. Ok, not really, but it’s nice to have a moment outside the din.

4:15  pm: On the 21st floor of the Chelsea Arts Tower Devi Kroell showcased her new accessories line: Dax Gabler. Inspired by her Tyrolean grandmother, Kroell worked with traditional Tyrolean costuming: very hunter/gatherer. Hand-knit, wool cardigans were cozy and totally layer-worthy.  The bags, oh the bags… Saddlebags and totes in leather and (?) crocodile. Perfect for the urban warrior.

Dax Gabler Presentation

8:00 pm: Dinner at the French brasserie beside my hotel—french fare and some french conversation.

10:30 pm: Heading down to the Bowery Hotel, where the party is at the side-entrance and you need a password (Velour!) I love fashion week.

12:45 pm: The party decides to move elsewhere and so do I. ‘Night.

Read more of Textstyles.ca Adventures at New York Fashion Week here.

Day four with fashion blogger Textstyles.ca behind the scenes at New York Fashion Week, Fall 2011

Photography by Stefania Yarhi

Chace Crawford and Vanessa Hudgens

9:00 am: My day starts with coffee (of course) and my favourite yogurt with granola from Starbucks (no this is not an advertorial). Satiated, I hail a cab to Lincoln Centre.

9:35 am: Run in to catch the Trias presentation. Having built a reputation on the fact he’s dressed Michelle Obama, I’m really excited to see what’s in store.  Timeless designs in a muted palette; many of these pieces will find their way into my wardrobe for Fall 2011.

10:40 am: Because no two shows can be remotely close to one another, I’m flying down to MILK Studios to see Rad by Rad Hourani. I feel a moment of proud patriotism as I fall in love with his unisex and transformable designs. The grey flannel, the origami folds…. I. Love. Every. Piece.

11:00 am: I need to stretch my legs, so I take a walk down Washington St. I pop into Scoop. Then around the corner , I check out the new-to-New York All Saints: the window display is hundreds of Singer sewing machines made into a grid. Very industrial chic.

11:30 am: A table for one at Pastis. Me, Tina Fey’s piece in the New Yorker and a Croque Monsieur. Divine.

1:00 pm: Back to the grind, I walk into Pier 94  for the Diesel Black Gold runway show. There are thousands of people, hundreds of meters of scaffolding, lights and cameras. There’s a swarm in front of me and then I notice it’s Chace Crawford from Gossip Girl and with him Vanessa Hudgens. Just over to their right is Joe Zee, Creative Director for ELLE and everyone’s fav editor on MTV’s The City. These are the shows that you feel the scope and total scale of where you are: the epicentre of fabulous.

Joe Zee, Creative Director at ELLE

Diesel Black Gold at Pier 94

1:25 pm: Show starts and the collection is bohemian grunge. Yards of leather legs, thick corduroy flared jeans, fur-trimmed coats and jackets. DBG is always rock ‘n roll.

2:00 pm: Typing, filing, uploading.

5:00 pm: Sleep, oh how I wish i could sleep….

5:45 pm: I’m out the door. I have 4 presentations to check out and 2 hours to get them all in. It’s me against the clock.

6:00 pm: Concept Korea curated by Valerie Steele. Four Korean designers: Doho, General Idea, Steve & Yoni P, and Lie Sang Bong. Great way to see new talent. Youthful, fun and very trendy.

6:40 pm: From Lincoln Center down to the Standard Hotel. Bodkin‘s presentation so different from the last. The vibe is California cool, cut away from the body in natural fibers and earthy tones. I run around the models standing on platforms, but I can’t get sucked into the relaxo vibe. I gotta go!

7:15 pm: Traveling East to the Rivington, I know I can make it. At a small boutique, designer Sunghee Bang shows her small collection. The inspiration:  nomadic travel. Think thick wool knits and ankle-grazing skirts, lapels that fall to the navel; all pieces are all an exercise in movement.

7:45 pm: Two blocks down, in a gallery on a corner, homegirl Rita Liefhebber has set up her Fall 2011 presentation. (See how I scheduled that?) This season Liefhebber worked her fingers hard: handmade leather buttons, braided necklaces, hand dyed textiles and reversible pieces. On my wishlist: the leather sleeveless tee lined in silk.

Rita Liefhebber Fall 2011 Presentation

9:30 pm: After all that running around,  and then a couple of glasses of vino (ok, maybe more than a couple), I’m famished. Rita introduces me to Freemans: a tiny restaurant down an alley, all twinkle lights and delicious atmosphere. Over shared artichoke dip and five cheese macaroni we talk shop.

Day Three with fashion blogger Textstyles.ca at New York Fashion Week, Fall 2011.

Photography by Stefania Yarhi

3:00 am: New York wakes me up. The city never sleeps, hope that means I can’t.

10:15 am: Showered, pressed and ready for fashion. I start my day at the tents with Carlos Miele. The collection felt like Halston went to the Middle East (But wait, it did in SATC2.) Shimmery harem pants, jumpsuits and cocoon shapes, ie: the ’70s is most certainly back. Nouvelle editor of Vogue Paris Emmanuelle Alt was front and centre, all long leather legs and fur jacket.

11:30 am: Back at MILK Studios. I’m early for the next show, but when PR sends you a message that they’ve overbooked it’s always best to get there on time. So I shoot backstage and then sit down to enjoy an americano in the media lounge and catch up on my Daily reading. Read the rest of this entry

Day Two with fashion blogger Textstyles.ca at New York Fashion Week, Fall 2011

Photography by Stefania Yarhi

3:15 am: Fall out of my bed in a total panic: Did I miss my wake-up call? No, go back to bed. Argh.

7:00 am: Rise and shine. No sleep for the fashion wicked. Coffee, coffee, coffee.

10:30 am: First up: Timo Wieland. Designers Timo Wieland and Alan Eckstein told me the secret to their collection. “It’s as if Gloria Vanderbilt and Keith Richards had a kid.” I dig it.

Timo Wieland

11:15 am: Book it down to MILK Studios for PREEN. Spotted: Garance Doré, street style’s first lady in the front row. The show in one word: Magnificent. Love the kaleidoscope of colours and textures.

12:35 pm: Working on a hope and a prayer, I gun it to the Simon Spurr show hoping it starts later than its promised noon start time. I’m wrong. They overbooked the show and I’m left out in the cold. Take comfort in the fact I’m not alone: Many an angry fashion editor yelling at the PR people. I leave before it turns ugly.

1:45 pm: Coffee break at the unofficial New York Fashion Week Starbucks at 63rd and Broadway.

2:00 pm: Brooklyn designer Suzanne Rae at the Lincoln Centre. It starts with a fashion video directed by Alexandra Roxo featuring Coline Jourdana and Karolina Babczynska. Rae’s clothes are Victorian-gone-grunge, ready to take you from the library to a seedy bar. All of this coupled with a live performance by indie group Mother Feather. Fun.

Coline Jourdana and Karolina Babczynska

4:00 pm: Heading downtown for the Pierre-Henri Mattout menswear presentation. A swing hangs down from the ceiling in the middle of the studio. In a corner, a photographer shoots the models in their head-to-toe looks while guests look on. Mattout’s nautical French designs are matched with the show’s overall joie de vivre.

5:30 pm: I have a couple hours to kill so I head to Opening Ceremony and caress the Rodarte offerings lovingly. I contemplate spending my entire next month’s budget on a cut-off knit sweater, but decide against it. For now. I’ll need to pace my shopping to make it to the end of fashion week!

6:00 pm: Combine lunch and dinner at La Esquina Taqueria.  I have a half hour before my next show so I take this time to regroup and re-fuel.

6:30 pm: I’m at the quaintest theatre: The Connelly in the East Village for J.Sabatino’s show. On stage, an accordion player sets the mood, very French. The rest of the stage is empty, save a strip of dirt: the model’s runway. The looks are decidely rumpled: layers of outerwear, denims and natural dyed cottons. The looks seem to have leapt off the pages of Huckleberry Finn.

7:15 pm: Find myself in the Meatpacking District for the Bensoni show. I see The City‘s Olivia Palermo wearing shorts, nautical stripes and the  fashion editrix staple: the fur vest. The collection is a mix of military and plaids, chiffon with cable knits… It’s a very cool, downtown mix. Designers Benjamin Channing Clyburn and Sonia Yoon (who plan to wed this Spring) say they were inspired by weddings and the anxiety associated in planning them.  “I’m just excited to start designing my own dress now,” Yoon tells me.

8:00 pm: Shooting the models backstage at the Gregory Parkinson show. This is my favourite part of covering Fashion Week’s: Getting a behind-the-scenes look at the madness and energy pre-show. Always a textile designer, Parkinson’s brocades and tweeds were layered together creating levels of matched vs. mismatched. The presentation was a feast for the eyes, jewel tones and metallics set against a white back-drop created a stunning visual impact.

Gregory Parkinson backstage

9:00 pm: Sweet dreams and good night!

ELLECanada goes behind the scenes of New York Fashion Week with fashion blog Textstyles.ca

Photography by Stefania Yarhi

11:30 am: Checked into the Pod Hotel, with just enough time to drop off my bags and put a fresh coat of lipstick before rushing out to my first show.

12:00 pm: Hail a cab to get me down to MILK Studios pronto. Five minutes into my ride and the cabbie hits a car. Find myself in the middle of a full on NYC street brawl; bail and hail another one.

12:15 pm: Aah! Find out the show I was running to get to is actually on Monday! All dressed up with no place to go, I make a frantic call to my editor to find out where I really should be…

1:00 pm: Now it’s time to go uptown for the Loden Dager show; but wait: 556 W 58th doesn’t exist! (What is with me today?) With the invite in hand, and no smart phone to Google directions, I make friends with a random on the street who’s also lost and searching for the show. We find our way to the show seconds before it starts. Phew.

2:00 pm : Spotted, Tommy Ton snapping pics of the male models leaving Loden Dager. Love him. Read the rest of this entry