As editors we see Fashion Week from a very specific viewpoint; who are the models, how is the collection, what’s the beauty trend, etc. This Fashion Week, however, we had supermodel-turned-actress Claudia Mason go backstage and write about her experience as a once runway-strutting model now on the other side of the industry; the observer. Here’s what she saw:
New York Fashion week has come and gone once again.
With one grand sweeping gesture it entered our busy city, and just as grandly has now moved on to London, Milan and Paris…ahh fashion week! There are so many aspects to it. The excitement of watching the shows and seeing the new collections is certainly the main draw, but the mayhem of putting on a show with all the hustle and bustle that happens backstage with makeup artists, hairstylists, dressers, and models all feverishly getting ready is another big part of the week.
I was lucky enough to go backstage at two fabulous shows during New York Fashion Week: Jeremy Laing and Vivienne Tam; who both - true to form - did not disappoint.
Jeremy Laing’s backstage vibe was a lovely subdued readiness, full of good energy and no mayhem (just the way we like it!), which set the tone for a wonderful show. Held at a beautiful loft space in Chelsea, Jeremy and his team, which included casting director Preston Chaunsumlit, and a team of stylists were calm, gracious, and ready to show the collection.
The lovely bevy of models, who were a diverse lot, were all a pleasure to talk to and easy to interview, except the ones who didn’t speak English. They seemed frightened when I approached them! But they were all fans of his line, and most had walked down his catwalk before. This gave the backstage a good college-like dorm-room energy, which reminded me of one of the best aspects of my backstage experiences from the days when I regularly walked the runways of the world; I just loved that relaxed feeling of hanging with my fellow models, catching up, laughing, sharing music etc.
Vivienne Tam’s backstage popped with that electric excitement of an established designer whose collection was about to be presented at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week tents, at Lincoln Center. I love when the feeling backstage has a Broadway musical air to it, after all I’m an actress today as well as a model, and to quote Shakespeare, “the play’s the thing.” There’s something about live performance that is so thrilling, so visceral, so alive. Vivienne Tam’s tent certainly had that readiness and expectancy to it. This was due, in large part, to the fact that the fantastic make-up artist, Gucci Westman, was at the helm of creating the beauty look that would go down the runway. All the models looked gorgeous and flawless, and patiently sat waiting for their turn in the make-up chair. There were a lot of foreign models, as well as one local New Yorker, Lydia Karen. All the girls seemed to be enjoying themselves, listening to tunes on their ipods, or reading a book, or eating, yes eating! They were all fun to interview.
All in all, what stood out the most was the professionalism backstage at these two contrasting shows. Jeremy Laing’s subdued readiness, and Vivienne Tam’s electric excitement. Pre-show jitters can manifest in different ways, but the models in both of these shows were equally relaxed, and positively expectant. — Claudia Mason
Be sure to follow Claudia on Twitter , Facebook and Tumblr as well!
