Our Trip To New York Fashion Week

It came in a brief email, our invitation to be a part New York Fashion Week! The coordinators loved our jewelry and thought we would pair beautifully with the Spring/Summer Collection from renowned designer David Tupaz. In a few short months, we would be on our way to the Big Apple for what we were sure would be a life changing experience. 

We had been to New York before, seen plenty of footage from previous runway shows, and figured we had a pretty clear idea of what to expect. In reality, our adventure was much different from what we had imagined!

The Airbnb

We decided to stay in an Airbnb 15 minutes away from where the show would be taking place. Both Mom and I prefer to have breakfast "at home" and thought having a kitchenette would make things easier. We arrived quite late at night, but our hostess had kindly stayed up to let us into the apartment. In the photos, the Airbnb looked rather spacious, but as our hostess opened the door, we walked directly into the bedroom, living room and kitchen! As she gave us the grand tour, we shuffled out of her way as she walked from one side of the room to the other. The tour lasted only moments and as she bid us goodnight, she reminding us to say that we were her "cousins" should anyone ask. We weren't sure who would ask, but we made note.

Laughing to ourselves at our lavish accommodations for the week, we collapsed onto the "bed", which turned out to be a futon couch with a mattress like pad laid overtop that would fly out from beneath you! (Mom discovered this the first night as I slept soundly on the "mattress" and she was left to the stiff futon below).

Now at the point of wheezing we were laughing so hard, we decided to take a peek in the fridge. The Airbnb listing had mentioned that breakfast was included and we were rather peckish from our travels. We were greeted by two water bottles and two packages of Welch's fruit snacks! Not quite the breakfast we had in mind, but it only added to the humor of things.

The Lockdown

When we awoke the next day, we could hardly contain our excitement! It was the first day of the show and our designs would be walking the runway that afternoon! We got dressed, caught a cab and were on our way into Manhattan. 

When we arrived, the building was bustling with other designers, crew setting up, and dancers practicing for their opening act on the runway. It was electric. In addition to our designs walking the runway, we were also granted a booth set up to display our jewelry. We finished setting up, found a couple chairs and anxiously awaited the call for us to go back stage. And then we waited....and we waited...and we waited some more. The show was to begin and the models had not yet arrived. In fact, no one else had arrived since we got there first thing in the morning. How odd.

As the show's start time came and went, we began to wonder what was going on. Finally, one of the organizers came by to fill everyone in. There had been an issue with some permit and we were on lockdown until it could be figured out! No one it or out of the building!

For the next few hours, we amused ourselves by making friends with the crew and other designers. We're in touch with many of them to this day! Finally, as we heard the echoing of hundreds of voices, we knew that the doors were opening. Mom headed backstage to adorn the models with their one-of-a-kind necklaces, and I took my seat in the front row to watch the show. It was one of the proudest moments of my life, seeing our jewelry bounce down the runway. A show that you too can watch by clicking here. 

Lunchtime

When we first thought of New York Fashion Week, we imagined endless glitz and glamour. The best of the best. We imagined catered lunches for the designers or having the time to dine at some of the top restaurants in town. What we didn't imagine was me running across the street to Chipotle, sweaty with blistered feet, to grab burritos for lunch...every single day! The one day we were so busy, the kind doormen offered to go pick up our lunch for us, which we then hastily inhaled crouching behind our booth's table. It was such a stark contrast from what we had imagined that we found endless amusement in it, laughing so hard we almost choked on our $8 burritos. In a way, it was absolutely perfect.

The (First) Afterparty

After the first show, we were told there was to be a fabulous afterparty at The Jane Hotel! Walking through the lobby, we were greeted by vintage chandeliers, beautiful wooden architecture, and a very stern looking bouncer. The woman asked to see our IDs and Mom proceeded to make a joke about her age and did she really have to show ID. The woman didn't have much of a sense of humor and then asked to search Mom's purse. Once we were finally allowed inside, we burst into laughter and made our way to the bar. 

The rest of the evening was filled with more laughter, plenty of bubbly, men half Mom's age trying to hit on her and us dancing away the night. On our cab ride home, we realized how hungry we were (yes, again). We sweet talked our driver (with the promise of a slice of pizza) into letting us run into a pizza shop on the drive home. As we wandered in, hilariously over dressed for the place, the owner behind the counter waved us up to the front of the line! We triumphantly returned to our awaiting cab driver with pizza for all three of us. 

The (Second) Afterparty

It was the last day of the show and everyone was looking forward to celebrating that night. The only problem was, the party didn't start until 10:00pm and we had to manage to stay awake until then! Once back in our Airbnb, we lay on our futon bed with our legs up the wall, trying to relieve some of the swelling in our feet from being on them all day. We laughed at how glamorous we felt, chugged some water, changed our outfits and hopped in a yet another cab. It was time to celebrate all we had accomplished!

While the rooftop party certainly lived up to our expectations, we found ourselves getting hungry...again. We weren't used to being up so late and to our stomachs, that meant it was time for another meal! On the elevator ride back down, we saw some of the show's team we had befriend earlier in the week. When they found out we were on the hunt for a snack, they asked to join us. A little tipsy from the bubbly and with rumbling stomachs, our ragtag group of six wandered down the street to the finest pizza establishment we could find open at 1:00am. We sat in this pizza shop for the next few hours, laughing about the mishaps of the show, reminiscing about all the things that went well, and learning more about our new friends. It was one of the best nights I can remember having and there's no one I'd rather have shared it with than Mom.

Our Big Takeaways

Being able to see our designs walk the New York Fashion Week runway was incredible and we are forever grateful for the opportunity. As a small business from Canada who, at the time, had only been in business four years, it was almost unfathomable. But the show itself isn't really what we remember from the trip. When we reminisce about it, we think about having burritos every day for lunch, our comically small Airbnb, running around in the middle of the night trying to find French fries and pizza, laying with our feet up on the wall, being under lockdown in the building, and making a laughable moment out of absolutely anything and everything. New York was memorable for a number of reasons, but mainly because it was one of our many adventures together as Mom and daughter. It was a trip we will remember forever.

Written by Daughter Danielle xo