| DAY 10: OUR URBAN WARRIORS GO INTO BATTLE |
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| SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009 11:00 P.M. |
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Today was the day for Hervé Léger. It began with a little bit of stress. When we got to the showroom, we realized that there were still 10 more dresses and a feather jacket to be sewn. It's difficult to explain how much work this is to complete, but once you see the images from the show, you will understand. There were tons and tons of hand-beading and sewing to be done.
We were supposed to be at the tents by 12 for a 2 p.m. show, but at 1:30, we still had dresses on the machines and people sewing feathers onto the coat. Lucky for us, the show that was before us had some type of elaborate set, and they ran about an hour late, so we knew we had a little bit of time.
Flash forward to 2:05, and we’re in the tents, still waiting for 2 dresses to be walked over and 3 girls to come from the DKNY show. We went up to the production balcony to check lighting and sound, and got the first glimpse of our new backdrop. We took the staging up a notch forHervé Légerthis season, with a custom metallic set made by an amazing company called Chemetal. We were inspired by the artist Richard Serra, and they were able to pay homage to him in a way that was perfect for our show.
By 2:21 the girls were in the lineup, and we were getting ready to begin. As usual, the next 10 or so minutes are a blur, but there were a few things that stuck out. For one, our shoes were impossible: they had a million leather and chain straps, and they were beyond difficult to put on. The shoes are always a problem – we waited and waited for them, then when they finally got here, we only received the high boots, and we had to have them all shortened. Then, in fittings, we realized that the thin wooden uppers were snapping in half, and we had to have them fixed too.
At the shows they were as much as a problem as ever. Poor Tiffany was on her hands and knees buckling shoes as girls were walking out onto the runway. During one of Yulia’s quick changes, she couldn’t switch from the low boot to the high one (the boots don’t fully unzip, and they were as tight as leather leggings). In rushes Sarah to the rescue – she takes off her stockings in the middle of the dressing area, grabbed a pair of scissors, cut them into socks, threw them on Yulia, and saved the day. And of course, Christian helped keep our resident amazon glamazon Yulia in check. It's not easy to tell a tall Russian brunette what to do - don't believe me? Just ask my husband ;)
The show got an amazing reception: everyone seemed to love where we took the collection. The shapes were new and made such a bold statement. It was amazing to see people so excited about Fall.
Ok, so you’ll see a few of our little cupcakes took a spill or two on the runway. Oh well, it happens. Between the shoes and the floors, it was a fall waiting to happen. The audience all applauded the girls that stumbled, and after dusting off their knees, the girls continued to strut, seemingly unfazed.
Today we also confirmed the Max Azria music, and it was surprisingly painless. We’ll be premiering a couple tracks from the new Bat for Lashes record, which isn’t coming out until April. Yep, you’ll hear it here first – the songs are beautiful and perfectly fit the mood of the collection. So far, even though music has been an arduous process, its also turned out to be some of the best stuff we’ve ever played. Sometimes you have to put a little more effort into it to get a little more out of it in the end.
Tomorrow is our last day of fitting – we’re in the home stretch. Tonight we relax and recharge our batteries just enough to get through the last show.
On a side note, we’ve found an amazing new gem in NY – his name is Khalid Mohtaseb (www.nextlevelpictures.com), and he is a phenomenally talented young photographer. Khalid has been following us around, helping us capture the chaos that is NY Fashion Week. A lot of the Polaroids you’ve seen on the blog have are taken from images by Khalid, and in the next few days, we will be posting more of his shots from behind the scenes at the shows. This guy has a great eye.
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