New York Fashion Week for the F/W 2014 collections is finally over. One must really love the fashion business and its environment to be able to endure this very long, eight-day week. It is an intense journey, sometimes with bumpy roads. Most people tend to forget that this industry generates billions of dollars, and to them the idea of fashion is a very shallow one, where players know by heart the difference between colors cerise and crimson, or between crepe charmeuse and crepe de chine.
It is impossible to attend all the shows; there is only so much time and energy one can have for going from Lincoln Center (Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week) to Milk Studios (MADE Fashion Week) and to other private locations around town. IMG, which owns the contract for MBFW (the official venue), has made several changes at the tents this year at Lincoln Center, adding a 6,000-square-foot dynamic space named The Pavilion, where each designer could transform the space to fit their show needs, and The Hub at Hudson for emerging designers. Security was really tight at the tents, and you could only get in if you were invited. At certain times after the end of a show, you were required to exit the lounge area and reenter it again for the next show. The yearly fashion zoo members and/or fashionista wannabe clowns who had no invitations stayed out of the way for the most part and remained outside where street-style photographers and bloggers saved their day. Overall, the tents felt more private this year; the black color was everywhere in the redesigned main lobby where the sponsors area is usually located, and the built mezzanine was a great idea for housing the press and for designers to host small events.
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The politics of fashion show seat assignments is always something fascinating, but being physically present at the shows is becoming less and less important, simply because everything is available online as it is happening on the runaway. Unless you are a buyer who needs to see the product closer, a top magazine editor, a personal guest of the designer or a celebrity, your presence at these shows is merely validation that you are somebody in the industry, or that you are just somebody … and where you are seated further confirms that. If you are located in the fourth row, you are practically invisible. Fashion seniority is tough, and PR firms will make sure you know that.
I had a great time this Fashion Week, thanks to all the PR people who accommodated me in the fifth row, fourth row, third row, second row, first row and sometimes even standing. So, when going down the list below, understand that good fashion taste is like a bad opinion — everyone has one:
1. Best Trend: Graphic furs
2. Best Show That Never Happened: Rachel Zoe
3. Best Use of Furs:
4. Best Runway: Tommy Hilfiger
5. Chicest Runway: Carolina Herrera
6. Best Wraps: Prabal Gurung
7. Best Show Inspiration: Prabal Gurung
8. Best Coat: Delpozo
9. Best Model Appearance: Kendall Jenner for Marc Jacobs
10. Best Art Production: Marc Jacobs
11. Best Prints: Rodarte
12. Best Pants: Jason Wu
13. Best Gowns: Badgley Mischka
14. Best Lace Work: Alexandre Herchcovitch
15. Best Shoes: Alexander Wang
16. Best Fashion Show: Alexander Wang
17. Best Finale: Alexander Wang
18. Best Drama Mood: Christian Siriano
19. Chicest Crowd: Ralph Lauren
20. Best Front-Row Moment: Anna Wintour and Lupita Nyong’o at the Calvin Klein show
21. Best Fashion Moment Incident: Top fashion editors stuck in an elevator after the Oscar de la Renta show
22. Most Exciting Show: The Blonds
23. My Favorite Show: Anna Sui
24. Best Male Fashion: Lacoste
25. Best Over-the-Top Show: Thom Browne
26. My Favorite Fashion Editor: Mickey Boardman
27. Best Hair: Honor
28. Best Nails: Ohne Titel
29. Best Makeup: Rodarte
30. Best Runway Debut: Ostwald Helgason
32. Best Fashion Villain: Vitalii Sediuk
33. Best Fashion Attitude: After a streaker interrupted his show, Prabal Gurung released a photo of himself wearing a crown similar to the plastic one that the intruder wore.
34. Worst Collection: Lee Jean Youn
35. Best Collection: Monique Lhuillier
