Having been involved with MBFWA since its inception in 1996, I’ve seen many designers’ debuts, sat front row for more shows that I care to remember and witnessed quite a few of said designers traumatised by the whole experience.
Preparation is key.
But nothing really prepares you for your own first fashion runway experience. Nothing except, well, doing it.
Remember your 21st birthday party which you had planned for months, and it felt like all you did was say hello to people all night and then, in a flash, it was all over?
Yeah, its a bit like that, mixed with the dream where you’re naked in public.
So here, in loose chronological order are my suggestions for a maximum MBFWA designer experience.
PLAN
Finish your collection way before show day, before Fashion Week starts, in fact before May starts.
This is not a college assignment to be handed in at the 11th hour and backstage is not the place for fittings, last minute alterations or finalising styling ideas.
Find great people to collaborate with.
After your collection is finalised, you still need to organise your photo shoot, design and print your look book, and style the collection for the runway.
So give yourself a few weeks, walk away from those clothes hanging neatly on their racks and then come back to look again. With fresh eyes way, way before Fashion Week is the thing that's happening tomorrow..
This may well be the first and last time you ever have this luxury. It could also be the first time you really understand the meaning of EDIT.
BREATHE
Be ready to take orders - and if you can’t, then don’t. Have your pricing sorted and, if possible, your production logistics almost sorted.
To over promise and under deliver is NOT a good rule of thumb here (or anywhere really). It's true that this may be your one shot. Bad reviews can be forgiven, an unfulfilled order cannot.
If you can’t crunch numbers, get someone who can. Your bottom line is just as important as your hemline.
Designers participate in Fashion Week for a whole host of reasons: starting a brand, PR, publicity opportunities, or the finale at the end of their degree.
Be honest about what your reason is, think about it and be true to your intentions.
Wear flat shoes: preferably sneakers, the concrete floor is unforgiving.
Towering heels are for the front row show ponies, not for the marathoners who are putting in 12 hour days.
And definitely not for running around back stage, rolling racks of clothes, walking a MILE to and from the car, bumping in and bumping out, going from HMU, to quick conversations with production managers, lighting directors and the music guy who can’t find your track.
Yes you’re popular! But busy. And also the only one who can answer this barrage of questions before showtime.
You are not a show pony, you’re a work horse.
RELAX
Eat breakfast. It is possible to live on canapés and champagne, stolen from the VIP lounge, but its not advisable.
Sometimes food arrives backstage, but I wouldn’t be setting my lunchtime clock by it.
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate… those cute San Pellegrino guys who service the front row also have cousins who fill the fridges backstage.
The cousins wear shirts and don’t have chiselled jaws but hey this is backstage - just drink it!
Don’t sit front row at your own show. Do I really have to say this?
Yes apparently I do - it’s been done before.
In fact don’t even go near the front row, especially after the doors open and the seating circus begins.
If you’re lucky you have a PR, who has a seating plan in her hand and diplomacy skills worthy of a UN ambassador.
The front row is like Dante’s First Circle of Hell, appropriately known as Limbo.
Also, don’t fill your front row with friends and family at the expense of delegates who are buyers and media - this is your business, they will understand.
Do take time to study the delegates list so you can make informed decisions about who to sit where.
ENJOY
Once the models are in first looks, and in that nano-second before show starts, you’re handing this baby over to the professionals.
Dresses, producers, models they all know what they’re doing, so enjoy the ride and savour the applause and when you’re gently pushed out onto the runway take a bow, wave and smile!
Eye contact is good.
And yes everyone is totally checking out what you are wearing (a piece from the collection or something black).
Be nice, to EVERYONE.
That volunteer dresser this year, could very well be a fashion editor or blogger by the time Fashion Qeek rolls around again next year.
Make friends with backstage photographers - they will definitely have things you’re going to want later on.
Smile, even if you want to scream. Say thanks to the team, the crew, the volunteers.
Don’t take it personally, any of it. Remember, if you don’t get too excited about the good reviews, you won’t get too depressed by the bad reviews. If you’re in this for the long haul, expect plenty of both.
As soon as it stops you will want to do it all again.
Welcome to fashion.