Written and photographed by Lisa Klein. Story sponsored by Total Health Physical Therapy.
DAY 3: STRAIGHT UP! CELEBRITY JACKPOT!
Overheard leaving Zang Toi: “Are you back tomorrow?” “No, I’m back in the real world. It’s so dull there….”
OK. It’s Day 3 and so far I’ve been to 11 fashion shows. Crazy! It’s been so much fun to be totally immersed in this whole fashion world and I still have 2 more days to go. I’m tired and yet well on my way to needing a “Fashion Week 12 Step Program.”
It’s Sunday and my first show isn’t until 3pm, which is Custo Barcelona. The Fashiontographer team met in Soho for the customary Fashion Week brunch followed by what is becoming a Fashion Week tradition: shopping at Custo Barcelona for something to wear to that runway show. I find an adorable back cap sleeve textured dress and we are good to go.
Racing back up to Lincoln Center, I encounter the only Fashion Week ticket issue of the week: it seems that they have not released the tickets to a majority of the spectators for the show and we are all waiting in line. It’s a long line that snakes through the lobby. It’s close to the start of the show and we are getting a bit stressed. No one, myself included, can believe we are having to wait on this line. Don’t they know who we are?! Finally they give us all standing tickets and we book it to the Stage. My concern about being so delayed is replaced by relief when we get to the show and I realize we are allowed to stand on the steps leading up to the standing area. This, at my 12th show, is a revelation to me. I did not know this was an option. We are right by the photographer’s pit and the view is unobstructed and perfect. Talk about turning lemons into lemonade: from now on I’m standing here! As it is close to the start of the show by the time I finally get into the Stage area, the only celebrity I see is Jay Manuel from American’s Next Top Model.
Following Custo Barcelona is Timo Weiland, but we make the strategic decision to skip it as we are supposed to have backstage access to Zang Toi. Unfortunately, for some reason, we are not on the list even though access was confirmed via email and we are out of luck. The funny thing was one of the girls checking us in backstage was from Zoya nail polish and we bonded how great all of our nails looked. Anyway, we decided just to bag it and get in line for the Zang Toi show.
I had a seat for Zang Toi (gift bag!) and was able to get in relatively early. I was casing out the space to see where I really wanted to sit when I saw Ivana Trump enter the Stage. Ivana Trump! Ok now we’re talking about fun celebrities! I wanted to get a better picture of her so I moved on to the runway. Why have I not thought of doing this before? I ended up walking up and down the runway and every time I turned around, I was rewarded with another fabulous celebrity sighting. It was a virtual celebrity smorgasborg. So fabulous. I was able to get pictures of Ivana, Pamela Roland, Kirstie Alley, and Maxim from Dancing with the Stars; Ramona, Sonja, Avery, Alex and Simon from Real Housewives of NY; and Miss Teen USA and Miss Universe.
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