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“Another
Eight Days…”
By C. Yohance DeLoatch
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Another season
is upon us. Another eight days of endless
fashion from my favorite designers Tracy Reese,
Oscar De La Renta, and Marc Bouwer. Another
eight days I get to spend with my favorite
girls…Liya. Omayra and Ai. Another eight
day of security telling photographers to “move
bitch, get out the wayyyy!” Fashion
week is finally upon us.
9 a.m. Way too early for me. But its Friday
morning and the start of the most electrifying
week of fashion in New York City. Upon entering
the newly renovated tents, exclusively designed
by a member of the Queer Eye group, the energy
hits you harder than that 7am alarm that woke
you up that morning. This season marks the
beginning of Olympus as the new official title
sponsor; replacing Mercedes Benz. And as a
photographer all I can say is THANK YOU!!
Olympus stepped in and built a well-deserved
press lounge for photographers to sit and
wait in between shows. In the past, we were
forced to wait outside in the blistering cold.
Olympus officials also continued to fill the
lounge with coffee, orange juice and fruit
for breakfast, turkey and cheese sandwiches
and soft drinks for lunch, and candy bars,
champagne and Krispy Kremes for dessert. |
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(YES I SAID KRISPY
KREMES!!) Olympus being on board is a match
made in heaven between photographers and one
of the top camera companies in the world.
“Photographers are the key to the event.
[Without them} it couldn’t happen!”
stated Fern Malis, Executive Director of 7th
on Sixth.
But the biggest advantage to having Olympus
onboard was the on-site camera services. Besides
offering to replace rechargeable batteries
throughout the day, as well as cleaning and
repairing your camera on-site, Olympus decided
to also lend out (not rent) their brand new
digital E-1 camera to ALL registered photographers
during the duration of the week. The Olympus
E-1 is the world’s first 100% digital
SLR camera with interchangeable lens. “[The
camera] was designed to meet the needs of
the demanding pros, offering powerful advantages
in terms of image quality, durability, speed
and lens size”, says president and CEO
of Olympus America, Mark Gumz. Its clear than
this season 7th on Sixth and Olympus are focused
on showing how much photographers have brought
to the event. |
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Redken was on-site,
as well as Johnson & Johnson, giving away
endless amounts of goodies. Many attendees
waited patiently in an extremely long line,
as they took turns getting makeup tips and
free makeovers. But the booth to get the most
traffic, besides The Daily’s open bar
at night/Dunkin Donuts cappuccinos in the
morning, was the M.A.C. counter. Every day
from noon to 7pm, M.A.C. applied full body
makeup as attendees, waiting patiently in
line, looked on. M.A.C. borrowed images from
many of the showcasing designers and duplicated
them on models nude bodies. It was very eye-catching.
By the fifth day, Tuesday, I was wishing
it was the eighth day. You can’t understand
it unless you’re a part of it. Covering
the shows from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. with a
few slices of pizza-on-the-run between shows
can be extremely draining. But this is the
life we chose to live, and I’d never
give it up. Most of my family and friends
only get to see these shows on E! or the
Style channel while I get to be a part of
this experience first-hand. I am given the
opportunity to capture most of the models
and designers that grace the covers of Elle
and Vogue. I love it and wouldn’t
change a thing!!
On a music note…it was only right that my
favorite group from back home, Outkast,
won the Grammy's top award for ALBUM OF
THE YEAR. Because every designer (and I
mean EVERY) placed songs from their album
"Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" in their runway
soundtrack. All week I heard different remixes
of "Happy Valentines Day", "I Like the Way
You Move", and "Hey Ya".
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| Everyone always
ask “Who are my favorite designers?”
My favorite designers are usually the ones
with publicists that give photographers the
respect to do our jobs at the tents. I usually
look forward to Baby Phat (see Photographer’s
Note)and House of Field. It was upsetting
to find out that both designers weren’t
showing this season. Although at the last
minute, Baby Phat did show off-site. So I
was able to fall in love with new favorites
Tracy Reese, Marc Bouwer, and Douglas Hannant.
On a special note, our deepest sympathies
go out to the designer Lloyd Klein, his
design team, and their families. I was deeply
disappointed to hear that his show was canceled
Monday night. But even more distraught to
find out it was because of a major accident
he and his team sustained while traveling
to New York to prepare for his fall collection
show. Our prayers are with them.
Photographer’s Note…I would
like to send a special thank you to all
of the PR firms that worked front of house
and actually treated the photographers and
editors with respect. We’re all here
doing our jobs and many publicists understand
that. On that same note, I’d like
to send a special “F*** You”
to the publicist that were extremely rude
and disrespectful this season. Baby Phats
PR gets an honorable mention. I don’t
know who was running their front of house
that dreary Wednesday evening, but I don’t
believe it was the PR Consulting that we
RSVP’d with. But whoever was front
of house was undeniably rude. As I said
before, we’re all doing our jobs.
But what Baby Phat must realize is that
besides Sean John, they are one of the hottest
tickets off-site. And I’ll admit,
one of my favorites to attend. But with
over 100 registered press and tv crews within
fashion week, how could they build a press
pit that only occupied 30 people. I was
never that great in math, but some things
didn’t add up. And this is not the
first “Baby Phat situation”.
Two seasons ago, Baby Phat received bad
press because of a PR mishap. Their PR at
the time sent more invites than their seating
could occupy. So when everyone and a guest
RSVP’d and showed up, there were problems.
Huge stars, celebrities and editors were
left outside in the lobby when the doors
had to be finally closed over an hour late
of show time. And here we go again…same
problems, different season. As I was waiting
to check in, I overheard front of house
turning away WWD, Essence and Elle Girl
because they “weren’t on the
list”. I’m hoping this mistake
was eventually corrected minutes later.
I have nothing but support for all of my
urban designers. (Yes Kimora, you are still
URBAN!!) And I don’t want to continue
to hear photographers and editors talk about
the un-organization of “those shows”.
Even security who have been working the
tents for years were “glad they’re
not here this season”. Hopefully they’ll
return to the tents next season without
the chaos and that PR representation.
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