Day 45: Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Today, fashion week officially ended :(  It was such an amazing experience and we got the opportunity to attend some awesome events and shows.  It's sad to think that I may not ever be in Milan during Fashion Week again...I guess I'll have to try New York City next year :)

Day 44: Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Follow the hot pink carpet to Fashion Week :)

Today our Fashion Product Development class took us on a field trip.  We went to the New and Upcoming Fashion Designers Fashion Show in the Center.  We took the metro there and arrived punctually, which...I don't know why we still do.  Every single place we go, we are ALWAYS the first ones there, and usually the only ones there for about 30 minutes.  "Italian time" is very lax.  We ended up waiting outside for almost an hour (which, when you're in 5 inch heels isn't that fun!)  When everyone from our class arrived, we were still virtually the only people outside waiting to go in.  After about 30 minutes, more people started coming and crowding the entrance.  When they finally let us in, the entire show was packed and there wasn't an empty seat around.  We were kind of annoyed because we were the first ones in line outside, but then our teacher had us wait around for an hour instead of going in and getting a seat.

So when we got inside, we all dispersed to find the best seat we could.  I ended up standing next to the seats in the aisle with 123456789 other people.  It was insanely crowded and uncomfortable.  However, despite the cramped setup, the actual show was fabulous.  The ensembles were phenomenal and the accessories were outrageous! 

Some of the outrageous accessories

All in all, the show was great.  However, we decided that we probably could have crashed it better than the school set it up :) 

Day 41: Saturday, February 26, 2011

The Vogue business card we constructed for ourselves

After getting denied entry to the Prada Show on Thursday, we decided that desperate times call for desperate measures.  We knew the Emporio Armani show was on Saturday and we really wanted to go.  So last night, Lorraine, Dawn, and I decided to make fake Vogue business cards.  We used our own names but we all claimed different job titles, ie Beauty Director, Accessories Columnist, Fashion Editor.  We went to the copy store in the morning, printed them, cut them out, and WAL-AH!  (See right).  It was a very simplistic card, but it looked legitimate enough!  We figured as long as we were confident with it, we had a shot!

Outside the 2011 Fall/Winter Emporio Armani Fashion Show

Once again, the first thing we did upon arriving at the show location was examine the security.  And of course, it was very tight.  There were men in suits standing at the front and side entrances and people with invitations lined up outside.  We inconspicuously hung around the doors for a bit, people watching and gazing at the outrageous outfits.  And while we were out there, I felt like I was famous!  People were taking photos of my outfit and even asking me to write down where I got each article of clothing.  Of course, I made everything up.  My entire outfit was probably under $100.  I said my $5.99 skirt from Forever 21 was Versache, my $20 fur coat also from Forever 21 was Gucci, etc. :)  After a bit, Lorraine and I noticed there were three separate lines to get in the door.  One for those with invitations, one for the photographers, and one for the press.  Well, we decided that being from Vogue, that made us press.  So we waited in that line until they began letting people in.  When I got to the front, I nonchalantly gave my card to the woman with the list of names.  She looked at it and said, "Oh, you're the Beauty Director from New York Vogue!"  Naturally my response was, "Yes, yes I am!"  She then looked at her list for my name.  When she didn't find it she said, "I don't know why you're not on my list, hold on one second please!"  She put her list down, immediately wrote me a seat card to fix the mistake, and IN I WENT!! :)

We're IN!

Once we got in, we had absolutely nowhere to go, but we made sure to keep walking before anyone could change their minds about letting us in!  We were one of the first ones in, so it definitely wasn't incredibly obvious where we should go.  We walked around in circles for a bit, then finally found the entrance.  And the venue was incredible.  The seats were completely escalated, so there wasn't a bad seat to be had.  The runway was completely illuminated in front of a wall-size Emporio Armani logo.  Once again, there was a tree of photographers posted up in front of the runway and stage crew running around like crazy people.  We went to find a place to sit, but there were sealed invitations on every seat.  We decided to sit in one anyways until someone asked us to move.  Which they did, about 5 minutes later.  There was standing room behind all of the seats, so we found a front row spot there and waited for the show to start.  However once it did, I moved down a couple stairs and snagged a seat there :)  I got the first couple minutes of the show on video, but then my bloggie died! :(  I was super bummed, but I still got some pretty good pictures!

Emporio Armani Fall/Winter 2011 Fashion Show

The Emporio Armani Fashion Show venue

Emporio Armani

The only spruce of color in the entire show!

 It was such a great show!  Even though the entire line was completely black (with the exception of the picture above) it was still so much fun.  The music was great, the crowd was bouyant, and the clothes were spectacular!  The models in this show walked right off the runway.  Usually they walk down, pose at the end, then turn around and walk back.  At this show, they walked right off the runway and out the door!  It was very interesting.
Tina Turner was at the show, and the crowd went insane when she came in;  apparently old school American artists are really big in Italy.  Giorgio Armani himself also made an appearance at the end of the show, just for a second!  I've noticed that they don't come out for very long.  At the Alberta Ferretti show, the Krizia show, and now the Armani show, the designers come out for about five seconds, give a quick wave, then disappear again.    

The show was held at its very own theater in Milan

Day 39: Thursday, February 21, 2011

Before the Krizia fashion Show

Day two of fashion week in Milan! Caitlin, Emily, and I got all dolled up then headed for the city to see which fashion shows we could get into today. We started with the Krizia fashion show at 2pm. We actually hadn't heard of the designer, but after researching we discovered that she is actually a well-known Italian designer that has been infamous in Europe since the 1950s. When we got there, there were dozens of people surrounding the doors, with security men standing guard. We quickly realized we weren't getting in the front door, so we decided to scope out other options. We found another door off to the side that looked like it led to the same building, so we entered. Two other girls had walked in this entrance before us and lucky for us, they caught the brunt of the security. As soon as they walked in, the man from behind the desk immediately stopped them and started yelling at them in Italian. We took this as our cue to proceed. I stealthy slipped passed them as they were conversing and made my way to the next room. And amazingly enough, the next room was the venue for the show. The room was set up just like the Alberta Ferretti show; there were rows and rows of seats, a perfectly lit up run way, and a tree of photographers posted up in front of the room. Once we entered the showroom, we kept walking right through it as if we knew exactly where we were going. We walked up the stairs and snagged front row balcony seats. We decided that besides the obvious front row seats, the balcony seats were the best seats in the house. The seats on the ground weren't escalated very much, so unless you were in the very front, you can't necessarily see very well. So needless to say, we were stoked with our seats. Once again, we were in the doors about 30 minutes before they were actually letting people in, so we decided to keep the picture snapping to a minimum in an effort to not draw attention towards ourselves. Once the doors opened, they were popping champagne at the door and giving it away to the guests that entered. It filled up very quickly, there wasn't an empty set to be had. About one minute before the show started, the stage crew took the cover off the runway. There is always a cover on the runway before the show; they don't want any dirt, footprints, or dust to contaminate the runway! Immediately after taking it off, an oblivious photographer comes from backstage and clumsily walks across the perfectly polished runway, leaving white, dusty footprints across the entire stage. Everyone started booing and yelling at him! I felt kind of bad :( Once the show started, it was about 15 minutes of tall, skinny, blondes all with platinum pixie strutting down the runway. I recorded the show again, here's the link:

Krizia Fall/Winter 2011 Fashion Show

After the show, we went down to the runway to snap a few pictures! Right when I got there, two girls asked me to take their picture. I had a lot going on; I had my camera, my bloggie, my purse, and my cell phone all in my hands, but stupidly, I decided to take her camera too. And the second she let go of it, it crashed to the floor because I had no grip on it whatsoever. It was clearly my fault, so I leaned down and picked it up right away. However, something definitely broke when it hit the floor, because there was a message flashing across the screen (in Italian of course) and it wouldn't let me take any pictures. At first I pretended to take a picture, but the girl definitely called me out..."there was no flash, it didn't take," she said. So, I had no choice but to confront her and show her that it wasn't working. It was really, really awkward. I made Caitlin and Emily abort mission take-pictures-on-runway and bail ship immediately. I just wanted to get out of there before she hunted me down for 100E or something! I felt terrible!!!

After Krizia, it was off to Prada. However, we didn't research how to get from this show to the Prada, so we were in a bit of a bind. We exited the building and looked for any clues whatsoever. We saw a couple buses waiting outside the venue...so I decided to see what the deal was. The driver told me that the busses were going to the Prada fashion show, but that they were strictly for the Press. After a quick begging session, we were on the Press bus on the way to the Prada fashion show :)

On the press bus from the Krizia show to Prada

Some diva at the Prada Show

We definitely weren't as lucky with getting into this show as we were with the last one. The security was insanely tight. We realized right away that we weren't going to be able to get in the front door. There were security guards standing shoulder to shoulder in the entrance way, letting only one person in at a time, after a close examination of their invitation. We walked around to the side where all the photographers were waiting to enter. We tried to blend in with them for a second, then realized it was way too obvious. In fact one of the photographers even turned around and said, "next time you want to blend in with the photographers, you might want to try a different outfit." They were all wearing jeans and sneakers, and we were wearing skirts, dresses, high heels, and blazers. We didn't 

exactly fit the part. So, we met up with the other girls and settled for standing outside and just being part of the chaotic environment. I gazed at outfits and enviously watched the lucky people who got to enter for about 30 minutes, then decided to head back. As we were walking back to the tram, a large steel door opened as a car was pulling out. All 10 of us immediately walked in, but were instantly stopped by security. It is definitely harder to be discrete when you are traveling with so many people. I am still convinced that if it just been a few of us, we would have been able to sneak past security when that door opened!

Day 38: Wednesday, February 24, 2011

Outside of the Gucci Fashion Show

So today, FASHION WEEK IN MILAN OFFICIALLY BEGAN!  We had class today from 9am - 12pm instead of 10am - 1pm, so we could have more time to meander around the city.  However, our teacher ended up letting us out at 10:15! :)  We headed back to our apartment to grab some food, change, then hit the city.  There are dozens of fashion shows going on everyday, all week long, and our teachers told us to try to crash as many as we can!  They told us to show up, act confident, come up with alibi if there is no name-list at the door, and kind of just act like you own the place.

So first on our list was the Gucci fashion show at 2pm.  We took the tram and got there around 1:30.  There were hundreds of people outside, so it wasn't difficult to find!  And it was like nothing I had ever experienced before.  The second we walked up, photographers started taking pictures of us and our outfits...we felt like celebrities!  I was wearing my Jeffrey Campbell heels, and people would constantly come up beside me, crouch down, and take a picture of my shoes!  I guess Fashion Week is the one time where you can take pictures of random people and not have to hide behind someone else to do it.  There were photographers everywhere!  Twice, we had someone come up to us and ask us "who we were," because they thought were somebody famous!

Checking names on iPads at the Gucci Show

Security at the Gucci Fashion Show

So as far as getting into the show, it was next to impossible.  There were three entrances, all with a minimum of 5 security guards at each.  The front entrance had three security guards at the curb, backed by three more a couple feet back, backed by two more at the door.  So, there was no getting in that way.  Moving on.  The side entrances were a lot smaller; and had about five security guards shoulder to shoulder all with ipads checking peoples names.  Well, since obviously our names weren't on the list, we decided to move onto the next entrance.  And this one was exactly like the last; security guards shoulder to shoulder.  BUMMER!  So, since we decided there was really no way to "sneak" in, we decided we might as well just ask!  We told them we were fashion study abroad students who would love the opportunity to see a big fashion show, and if we could just stand in the back that would be awesome!  They were not intrigued by us at all, to say the least.  It was still awesome to stand outside and stare at all the lucky, impeccably dressed people with the golden Gucci tickets walk in!  The invitations to this show were leather, with a gold face and engraved writing.  

The Golden Ticket...we didn't have one.

People look so much cooler with Golden Tickets

Photographers were obsessed with her outfit.

Checkered pants and a bow-tie :)

Round glasses are my new addiction

Famous fashion blogger from Bryanboy.com

Hanging out before the Alberta Ferretti fashion show

Afterward, we headed to the Alberta Ferretti fashion show a couple blocks away.  As we were walking up to the building, we noticed the security at the front entrance was looking pretty similar to the security at the Gucci show.  However, once we crossed the street, I noticed a random door on the side of the building that looked like it hadn't been touched in years.  It was old, rusty, and dirty.  But, it looked like it led to the same building, so I decided to give it a whirl.  And MUCH to my surprise, IT WAS OPEN!  I peeked my head inside and saw a sign that said "backstage" with a few men standing next to it.  We were kind of hesitant at first, but then we just decided to GO FOR IT!  Everyone put their game faces on, and we all walked right passed them like we were supposed to be there and knew exactly where we were going.  We followed the signs towards the backstage...we figured if we can get backstage, we can definitely get to the front!  We finally reached the backstage and there were girls standing outside the curtains who apparently were part of the staging committee.  We decided to blend in with them, taking on that alibi.  After a few minutes, we saw a curtain that looked very promising.  We peeped our heads through, and sure enough...it was the stage with hundreds of chairs and cameras and lights :)  It looked amazing.  We walked through the curtains (once again, like we owned the place) and just stood against the back wall.  They weren't even letting people in the doors yet; the only people there were photographers and models!  We snapped some pictures then decided to separate and see how we could snag some seats!  We quickly noticed all the seats had name tags, so this was going to be an issue.  A little bit later, I saw a security guard grab some chairs from a back wall and move them to the front for some people.  The second he walked away, Emily, Caitlin, and I grabbed three more, and lined them up just like the others!  We couldn't believe it...when people start coming in, there were people with invitations sanding behind us while we were sitting in chairs!!   

Alberta Ferretti Fashion Show

The invitations

Finally, about 45 minutes after the show was supposed to start, the lights dimmed and the show started!!  I noticed that there were stairs leading up to our seats...which could definitely double as seats!  Right when the show started, I scooted down to the first row and watched the Fall/Winter Alberta Ferretti 2011 Fashion Show from front row center.  It was unbelievable.  And I managed to get the entire thing on video.  Check it out :)

Alberta Ferretti 2011 Fall/Winter Fashion Show

(click link above to watch fashion show)

After the show, we hung around for a few more minutes taking some pictures and taking in the scene...because how often do you get to sneak in through the back door of a designer fashion show?!  Not very often.

Emily and I after the show

Alberta Ferretti Fashion Show

Hanging out with Bryanboy at the Dolce and Gabbana cocktail hour :)

Afterwards, it was off to the Dolce and Gabbana cocktail hour.  They were serving free wine and it was open invitation!  There were new collections displayed all around the store and lookbooks on the tables.  There were also people doing hair and makeup; it was really crowded, but still a neat experience to top off an unforgettable day!  Getting into that fashion show made this entire study abroad experience so much more exciting.  I'm studying fashion, in the fashion capital of the world, during fashion week.  It doesn't get much better than that :)

Milano loves fashion:)  This slogan is EVERYWHERE in the city right now!