Student Blog: My New York Fashion Week Experience

I have been wanting to go to New York Fashion Week since I was a kid. Even though I have lived in New York City for about three years now, I had never gone to a fashion show or fashion week event until this February. It started because, for one of my journalism classes this semester, I had a camera I borrowed from the journalism department to do my class projects. I initially thought about going to fashion week as part of one of my assignments, but ultimately I went simply as press.

One of my teachers in studio this semester is always encouraging us to send cold emails and take chances on things we really want. She reads us examples of emails and teaches us the dos and don'ts of cold emails. I put my email writing skills to the test, and I ended up getting three yeses. My email said that I'm a journalism student and an artist from NYU who has been interested in fashion and fashion week since I was little, and I nicely asked if they could spare a press pass.

The replies came in pretty quickly; the first one came not even an hour later that night! I ended up being able to go to two fashion shows. The first was a fashion show collaboration between Hekka (a fashion brand) and Uplive (a social media app). The second was a fashion show for the designer Corey Woods and his new eyewear line. Both were quite the experience. I would also like to mention that, as far as I know, both events I attended required attendees to be vaccinated, and my guests and I all wore our masks throughout the entirety of both events.

I was very nervous when I went to the first fashion show, and I was a little confused as to where to sit because it was unclear whether the seats were assigned. I was also nervous because in my hurry to get ready after class I forgot to bring my SD card for my camera. I did bring my boyfriend with me, though, who helped me to feel less nervous at my first official press event, and eventually (after being kicked out of where we were sitting, because there were in fact assigned seats) I started to have a good time during the fashion show. I ended up taking pictures with my phone camera instead. The show opened with a performer covering "Sweet Child O Mine," before models started walking down the runway in floral dresses. After the end of the floral dress collection, a group of dancers came out and did a performance. Then the models came back out in a line of mostly athleisure, and the designers came out and bowed at the end. The guest of honor at this event was Elon Musk's mom, Maye Musk, who I recently learned apparently used to be a model. I enjoyed people watching and taking photos of the models and the people in attendance, as people excitedly moved about, taking their own pictures on the catwalk.

The second fashion show was in Soho, and when my roommates and I got there, it seemed like a combination of a pop-up shop and a party. After waiting a little while, the fashion show began, and all the guests were ushered outside to watch. The models lined up in front of an empty building, and they slowly walked down a platform, until they cycled back to the beginning. I did remember my SD card for this fashion show, and I felt so powerful with my camera. The models posed for me; people moved out of my way; I got really close to the designer; and I took some pretty awesome pictures. While the fashion show was going on, a graffiti artist painted on a window of the empty building. Everyone went back inside where the fashion show continued, and the designer and two of the models performed a dance routine. After the show, the pop-up party vibes continued, and I took more pictures of people dancing, before my friends and I headed outside to have our own photoshoot.

Overall, fashion week was a really fun and really special experience. I am so happy that I got to go, and I'm so proud of myself for putting myself out there and taking a chance. I definitely learned that cold emails can work! Don't tell yourself no before you even ask! Cold emails are definitely worth a shot. My emails left me with some pretty cool fashion week memories and pictures!