Atmosphere gets crazy during New York’s biggest week in fashion. The heels. The hair. The heat. The heartache. And that is only for standing in line for the after party.
An example: Tommy Saleh’s NYNY party at Le Baron was occupied to instant capacity Monday when the W magazine and Donna Karan shindigs downtown ended and everyone streamed over en masse. We counted 4 doormen – not the typical friendly 2 – manning the crowd, constantly asking everyone to move back, move aside, move out. To no benefit.
Few lucky ones who did get in (think models, New York City DJs and the kids from Public School) had a great time, as expected with any Saleh fete. But there are ways to mitigate the horror. And win friends in the process. Here are some some those.
Carry cigarettes and a lighter. Fashion people smoke. I do not see this changing. Even if you do not smoke, you will be asked for a ciggy or a lighter (or both) if you are hanging around outside any of these events. Be a good one and carry a few extras. It helps made easy conversation.
Or – and this is tried and true – step outside with your group of smoking friends when they go for a smoke. You will meet the most interesting people.
Share your car. Are you a member of Uber? Great. Be a pal and call for a car the second you feel the energy shift and can tell people will want to leave in T-minus five, four, three, two….
Put names on lists. Got the hookup at Tribeca Grand, PURPLE, Vanity Fair, The Standard, Electric Room, Acme or The Jane? Make the call (and by call we mean text) to your guy on the inside and put some names down. It is more fun to roll with a crew than with a plus-one anyway.
Carry a charger. The anxiety journalists, models, bloggers, promoters, DJs and business people feel when their battery goes dangerously low is palpable. Some carry portable chargers that prove invaluable when your phone dies halfway through the evening. Or, you could just try to enjoy the evening as a fully present individual blissfully untethered to a device. But that is an advanced move best enjoyed deliberately, not by dead-cell-phone default.
Keep you hands down. Take 2-3 photos during the runway show and then put the phone down. Otherwise your raised hand will be immortalized in the shots of everyone behind you, and they will hate you for it.
Don’t pinch seats. By which we mean do not sit in an assigned seat which doesn’t belong to you. Far better to stand in the back and then be called to a place of honor than to assume a seat up front and face public removal when its rightful owner arrives.
Go with the flow. Plans change. Traffic stops. People get tired, hot, hungry, sick or love-bit. It is completely okay. There will always be another season, another show. Think ahead...think of the future.
