From: pcg@panix.com (Paul Gallagher)
Subject: Article about fashion shows
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 23:38:02 GMT
Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix, NYC



Cosmopolitan, April 1992 v212 n4 p214(4)

Title:       Behind the scenes at the designer shows.

Author:     Rosenblum, Anne

When the first model bounces down the runway bathed in bright light, she
signals the start of a show--but also the finale of an insane drama that has
taken place backstage.  Says designer Bob Mackie, "One broken zipper could
throw the whole show off!"

Who's responsible for making sure the show goes on?  A vast cast of models,
dressers, hairstylists, makeup artists, all tripping over camerapeople,
assistants, well-wishers...and a designer, hovering nervously, casting a spell
to ward off disaster .  (Todd Oldham dots black beauty marks on everyone for
good luck.)

This madness takes place twice a year, in November and April, in New York
City, as American designers unveil their new spring and fall collections to
store buyers and the fashion press.  Some fifty shows are scheduled during a
frenetic five-day period, one every hour, starting at nine A.M. and ending as
late as seven P.M.  The top designers show, but so do young beginners--if they
can afford the price tag.

Fashion shows are notorious for putting designers out of business.  Never mind
bad reviews--the cost alone (forty-five thousand to two hundred thousand
dollars) can sink them. Supermodels are pricey, but some are willing to trade
time for clothes.  Here's where most of the money goes: production (music,
lighting, stage setup), photographers and camera-people (a video is
essential--to play for buyers and editors who missed the live action or want
to review it, and to use in stores and showrooms), hair and makeup (two
thousand to five thousand dollars each--though it's rumored Oribe gets ten
thousand dollars to do hair at Calvin Klein), accessories (shoes alone  can
cost as much as thirty-seven thousand dollars), invitations (they've been
printed on everything from satin swatches to cardboard coasters), and postage.

These figures don't include the cost of making the clothes, many of which are
showpieces--versions of a designer's look taken to an extreme, usually much
shorter, often far more revealing, than those that hit the stores.  "Shows
reach a level of fantasy we don't envision on the street," designer Michael
Kors acknowledges.

The location may also add to the bill.  It's cheapest, but not always wisest,
for a designer to use his or her own showroom, as Kors found out last April
when the ceiling collapsed during his show.  This time around, he joined seven
other designers showing in a midtown hotel ballroom--a move that made getting
around easier for guests as well as for models.

Schedules can be grueling.  Some models do back-to-back shows, as many as
twelve throughout the week, and often arrive late, caked with layers of gunk
from a previous job.  At Sant' Angelo, the makeup artist orders Cindy Crawford
to take a damp sponge and rub the orange off her face.  I didn't do it," Cindy
says in self-defense.  "You can tell who did the Chanel show in Paris," says a
makeup assistant.  "They have no eyebrows.  It's cool--we can easily draw them
on."

Even when the looks get very revealing, no one's at a loss: Body makeup goes
on bikini-area shadow and stray pubic hairs; legs are lubed with lotion,
powdered to kill the shine.

A genuine air of friendliness prevails backstage, despite the competition. 
"Everyone thinks we're clawing each other, but that's not how it is at all,"
says Cindy Crawford.  "Christy [Turlington] and I shared a cab to Calvin this
morning."

Out front, all kinds of high jinks can take place, whether accidental (the
lights blow at the Mizrahi show) or planned (designer Liza Bruce is lowered
onto the stage via a cable apparatus she was secured into).  Still, some
aspects are constant: Many designers come onstage to collect his or her
applause; every show ends with a bridal gown (a tradition no one can explain).
And an extravaganza that took six months to prepare is over in sixty
minutes--just like a wedding.

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