Clairemipsum: A Coming of Age Creative

What every fashion student should know

The tents are up and the stages built. Everyone on campus is buzzing about the shows, the trends, the gossip and just like every other FIT and Parsons student you’re thinking, “HOW THE HELL DO I GET IN?!?!”

When I was your age, waaay back when the tents were still at Bryant Park – I worked every angle I could and got in every time with some charm and networking too. It won’t be easy but here’s my guide to getting in. (Results not guaranteed and I am not posting your bail)

Interning and Indentured Servitude

You’ve probably settled quite nicely into your apartment or dorm in NYC and are already itching to get into the fashion world by any means necessary. So get to the Internship Center and sign up for volunteering/interning at Fashion Week as soon as possible. The spots fill up almost as soon as they open so don’t be afraid to keep going.

Congratulations if you get one of the coveted spots!

Good news - Usually you get a free shirt or a lanyard designating you as a Fashion Week volunteer and you’ll have a behind the scenes look at how fashion shows are put together and run.

Bad news – You probably won’t see the show unless you stand on a friend’s shoulders and extensions and don’t expect to be getting one of the awesome swag bags you just spent 4 hours putting together.

I Know A Guy Who Knows A Guy

Slavery *cough* I mean interning not your style. Time to open your address book and start Facebook stalking.

New York is a big city but it’s actually surprising how small it can be - everybody knows somebody who knows somebody who is best friends with the designer. So start figuring out who you know that might be kind enough or owe you a favor and will help you get in.

FIT and Parsons teachers are notorious for being this connection. Since so many members of the faculty have remained close friends and mentors to alumni, their mailboxes are flooded with invites to the shows each year. Sometimes they go and sometimes they pick a favorite student to go instead. The key is to be that passionate student they believe deserves the opportunity so now is the time where being a straight A student in polka dot origins really helps. There is at least one of these chuppacabra professors in each department – find them and bring apples to class.

Kamikaze

If you aren’t the volunteer type and don’t have great grades, I hope you are gutsy as hell and have equally brave friends.

This way in is best attempted in groups with a fairly varied set of skills and talents. It’s kind of like pretending to be a conartist. Actually, that’s exactly what it is becoming a ‘Confidence Artist.’

For this to work it is best to have a group of all girls. If you must have boys, it’s best if they look either emaciated or look like linebackers. For the girls, get some heels (Lady Gaga ones if you’re short) and dress like you belong there. Try to match the designer’s signature style with unique accents. Get creative but stay away from crafty – it’s not etsy week after all.

Memorize the schedule at the tents and pick an early morning show that won’t be bursting at the seams. This is not the time to see the most buzzed show this is just to get in the door.

Try to learn the names of some of the people working on the show. There’s no way you can get away with saying you know Anna Wintour or Fern Mallis but you could be the sister of the makeup artist’s assistant.

Take a cab to directly in front of the entrance and show up around 5 to 10 minutes before it starts. When you get up, walk as confidently and hurriedly in. Don’t stop for photos. Don’t stop for anything. Just go.

If you do get stopped, speak in another language that you’re lost or your invite isn’t in your purse or look upset as though you are rushing away from the foreign press.

Once you’re in - you’re in. They usually double check invites inside but allow for standing room. So just relax and enjoy the show.

I Got In!!! – Now What?

Enjoy, make friends, and eavesdrop. The best way to know which show to go to next is to find out where everyone else is going and follow them. You can usually squeeze in a few more shows a day this way.

Using these ways and having some incredible friends I made the most of Fashion Week whenever I went. I sat second row, drank champagne and had an extravagant time before returning back to my sleepless nights of too much work and not enough hours.

So have fun and work it when you take that mug shot!

 by Mary Rita Schilke Korzan

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You hung my first painting on the refrigerator
And I wanted to paint another.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You fed a stray cat
And I thought it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You baked a birthday cake just for me
And I knew that little things were special things.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You said a prayer
And I believed there was a God that I could always talk to.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You kissed me good-night
And I felt loved.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
I saw tears come from your eyes
And I learned that sometimes things hurt—
But that it’s alright to cry.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You smiled
And it made me want to look that pretty too.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You cared
And I wanted to be everything I could be.

When you thought I wasn’t looking—
I looked …
And wanted to say thanks
For all those things you did
When you thought I wasn’t looking.