The Ins and Outs of Attendance at Fashion Week Shows

[ilovegrey]

Thanks very much, BetteT and Kimair.
It really is a lot of work! Sometimes I just stand back and think about whether it's actually all worth it or not. Sometimes it is so much easier to just stay home!
kimair, are you planning to attend in February? I would love to meet you!
It helps to keep the goal of fashion week in mind all year. Sometimes I just generally like a brand, and it's a really nice surprise to get an invite from them when I wasn't intentionally aiming for one.
Good point about the seat filling. When I was at Academy of Art in September, I went from the 7th row to the 3rd row because a volunteer bumped me up. I got really lucky! I have heard stories of people who snagged a second-row seat just because the attendee didn't show up it wasn't filled. It's good to be really alert!

 

[NICOnick]

As ilovegrey posted earlier about getting into shows as a blogger - I've learned that this may be the best route to take to get into shows. Get in touch with designer's PR people and they can get you in easily. I have a friend who is a blogger and contacted Rodarte's PR people and got to do Rodarte F/W '11 just like that. I've signed up for February's NYFW through the school already in early December and I just started blogging a few months ago so I'll try to get into as many shows as possible and let you guys know how it goes. It is definitely, definitely about connections and networking. That's what this whole industry is consisted of and build upon.

I hope my comment helped answer some questions. I'm still new to all of this, as well.

 

[BetteT]

NICO ... I"m splitting your post between 2 threads ... just so you know. The volunteering paragraph is being moved to the thread abour Volunteering for Shows ... and I'm going to leave your second paragraph here ... because it's about attending shows as a fashion blogger.

thanks for the helpful information about both things.

 

[FASHIONLOVA]

how much in advance do you send a request to attend a show? talking here about Paris rtw. thank you

 

[distantgalaxy]

how many seats average are at a fashion show?

I know this is a vague question but how many seats are in a well known Designers fashion show...
lets say for the larger ones like Chanel how many people are invited?
and then how many for mid-sized ones?
And how many for the smaller ones?

any help would be appreciated, thank you.

 

[ad041715]

I was thinking of an audience related question last night and I'd like to add on to distantgalaxy's inquiry:

Who's who in the audience? We all know who sits in the front row but how about the second row? Or the third row and so on? I'm quite curious about this seeing as how most shows are invite-only.

 

[Valentine27]

I would easily say like 1,000 people for a show like Chanel.

 

[BetteT]

From what I've read the seats are pretty much assigned like this. Front row,Editors of the top mags, buyers from the big retailers and maybe a celebrity just for PR purposes, then sitting behind them, lesser editors and buyers and stylists who have connections and or influence. Lastly ... the lesser people in all of the top people's offices, and influential bloggers. And mixed in there, an occassional favorite client of the designers and a few friends and or relatives. It mostly depends on thier "influence" and how much they can help the designer sell the clothes. The more they help the designer promote his line or sell his line ... the closer they get to being front row.

It's usually the designer's publicist that makes these decsions .... along with the desinger's apporoval, of course.

 

[ad041715]

^ Thank you so much for answering my question!

 

[tayloryepp]

I received an invite for the Rebecca Minkoff show and a few others. Is it necessary to still pay the $100 fee? Just wondered if there was a way around it because I received an invite. Thanks!

 

[BetteT]

What hundred dollar fee? Who is charging that?

 

[tayloryepp]

What hundred dollar fee? Who is charging that?

I guess that answers my question!

I was going to receive credentials from IMG, but I guess I don't need to! I guess I should've asked if I needed credentials to attend, but if I have an invite, I guess it doesn't matter, does it?

 

[BetteT]

It doesn't answer mine .... does IMG "sell credentials"? Press credentials? Or something else? This just sounds like a scam to me ... maybe I'm missing something here ....


In any event ... you still need and invitation. If you are press ... your invitation will come to your publisher and they would have to assign you to the story and hand you the invitation. Same if you are a stylist, an editor, a buyer .... you need an invitation. Of course ... if the seats are not all filled and/or there is room, then I suspect that anyone with valid press credentials may get invited in after everyone is seated.

 

[kimair]

you can apply for a press pass through img...they ask you for your company/blog/publication, some tears/examples of your work, and stats/readership...
if you apply by the early bird deadline, your name/info is given to all the PR companies that represent the designers on their official list (the ones on the img schedule)...
it does not however guarantee access to any shows, you still have to have an invitation...
it can help if you are a new attendee, because you don't have to directly contact the pr companies yourself; you'll get invites just by being on the list. but for any shows you really want to attend, it's best to reach out to designers or their pr companies yourself with your info and ask for an invite...

getting a press pass also gets you access inside the main tent at lincoln center, where they have free wi-fi, a cafe, some sponsor tables (like from maybelline, tresseme, mercedes-benz) and it's obviously great people watching...

 

[BetteT]

Ah .... thanks, Kim. I learned something here .... and it's really helpful information for anyone who is working as a fashion journalist.