NYFW recap + shop the runway now

February 17, 2016

I had the opportunity to go back to NYC for fashion week again this year. I can still remember my first fashion week experience. Years ago I happened to be in New York at the same time fashion week was going on. I wondered how the heck people got tickets to the shows. I asked all of my most in-the-know friends and made zero headway. I remember seeing tickets to an after show event sold on GILT group for $50 and was like, sign me up! I went with some girlfriends and if memory serves me right I don’t think there was even a show, just some large flat screen tv’s with models walking a runway. I still thought it was all very Sex and the City and took in every minute of it.
Fast forward a few years and I’m all of a sudden working in the fashion world. I still pinch myself that I get to be a part of fashion week. Like any job, there are highs and lows, NYFW for me is one of the all-time highs. Working most nights until bedtime, one example of a low, to put it into perspective. More on that another day though. Anyway, after getting to know others in the fashion industry it’s so interesting to hear the vastly differing opinions on fashion week. It’s an ever-changing industry and the stories about the days of old are jaw droopingly cool. But I’ve only got a few years to compare, so everything I see is new and equally fab.
My only complaint is the bone-chilling arctic blast that is February in NYC. You’d think I’d have some stamina for the cold after growing up in Ohio. Not so much. And I probably said “I’m SO cold! It’s FREEZING! Never again, February fashion week” more times than I can count. And now that I’m home hanging out in flip flops with a glass of sav blanc on the patio, I’m like, “It really wasn’t so bad, was it?” The best analogy I can come up with is child birth. God erases our memory of how hard it actually is and we’re ready to give it another go before we know it. It’s because the highs are so much higher than the lows. And that’s how I feel about NYFW, the fashion show highs totally make up for record low temps.

On the highlight reel from my NYFW was Sachin + Babi’s presentation in one of the coolest NYC venues I’ve seen. I felt like I was on the set of Downton Abbey. And the ambiance….they nailed it. Candles burning the most beautiful scent { I later learned that it’s the signature scent of this restored house/venue}, a violinist playing, gorgeous models lounging around the house and the designer, Sachin Ahluwalia and his team in attendance, greeting guests as if each of us the most important person in the room. I was blown away. We saw some amazing runway shows over the course of the week, but this presentation was one I’ll remember and talk about for years to come.
The second major noteworthy fashion week event {sorry, not going to recap Kanye’s show here guys} was Rebecca Minkoff’s runway show. In case you aren’t familiar with how things traditionally work it goes like this. Designers showcase their fall collections in the winter before that collection hits stores. So we go to NYFW in February to see what will come out this fall. Well that’s all good and fine but the problem is we live in a culture that demands instant gratification. We see it, we want it, we buy it. So for the millions of people following the runways shows on social media, they see an incredible dress but can’t actually buy it for 6+ months. For the majority of shoppers, that piece is well forgotten about by the time it’s actually available. So this time around, Rebecca Minkoff is breaking the traditional fashion week mold and is showcasing her spring 2016 collection which you can actually buy instantaneously after seeing it on the runway. Genius! I mean, this makes so much sense, right? I’m most impressed with her bold yet practical move this fashion week. The strategy worked on me, I’m planning to buy a few pieces from her #seebuywear runway show.