Michael Kors and L’Wren Scott Fashion Shows

March 11, 2009

Michael Kors is now so successful that any time someone in the fashion business refers to “Michael”, everyone knows who you are talking about, just like they know who Oscar, Donna and Carolina are.  I remember working his first show, which he held in his showroom on Seventh Avenue, and some of the “big girls” like Naomi, Tatiana and Eva walked the show.  The electrical system became so overwhelmed that all the lights and the music went out about half way through – you can imagine how frantic he was about that!  These designers are on pins and needles (no pun intended!) before their shows; they have their entire business riding on whether or not the press and the buyers like what they see.  (I remember Arnold Scaasi actually sticking pins in his fit model backstage before a show)

Well, Michael has come a long way, baby, and he has just as many celebs and socialites as the best of them now.  And it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.  What’s interesting is that nearly all of the really high fashion designers – Oscar, Carolina, Ralph Rucci, the late Bill Blass – are all very nice and also very organized.  No sewing dresses at the last minute, like some people who shall go unnamed.  I’ve worked many a show where the show has actually started and the look didn’t arrive until half-way through it.  Sometimes barely in time for the model to put it on!  No wonder some of these designers are “difficult”, that’s what happens when you’re not organized and fully prepared.  There have been a couple over the years who were SO “difficult” that no one in the Ground Crew would work the show.  I always wondered what Audrey told them when they called to book us the next season.  But I digress.

Michael had 58 models, including men, which is a fairly recent development.  One of the first thing the styling team told me was that they wanted absolutely no fingerprints on the patent leather shoes.  They even handed out special cloths to polish them with.  We were asked to Static Guard all the coats (the February shows are for Fall clothes) and even though many of the models had handbags for their looks the first time they went out, none of them were to carry them for the finale.  Oh, and we had to make sure they carried them in their left hand.

It was a great show, although one model was so addicted to her phone that she was texting until the second before she went out, shoved the phone in her pocket, and it rang part way down the runway.  Considering how many thousands of dollars these girls get just to walk down a runway for 20 seconds, you’d think they could give it a rest for 15 minutes.

L’Wren Scott is a celebrated Hollywood fashion stylist, perhaps better known for being Mick Jagger’s girlfriend, turned fashion designer.   She’s at least 6′2″, very likely taller, and tends to wear high heels.  After having dressed many a star for the red carpet, a couple of years ago she decided to try her hand at designing red carpet clothes herself.  I did her first show, and the clothes were to swoon over.  Can’t say I liked the color palette, but the designs were to die for.  There was much speculation backstage as to whether Mick would show up, and sure enough, he did.  He is a lot shorter than you would imagine, and very slight.

This season he brought his son with him, and it was touching to see how affectionate he was towards him.   Dustin Hoffman made a cameo appearance backstage too.  He isn’t very tall either.  L’Wren shows in the Gagosian Gallery down in the 20’s, not in the tents.  Instead of a stage, she has a very unusual set-up.  In this really large room they set up what must have been at least a 40 foot table a comfortable distance from the wall, with the chairs only on one side (the side nearest the wall)  The tables were draped with while table cloths and every three feet or so was a low, rectangular box full of coral colored roses.

So picture this enormous room with wood floors, white walls, a looong white table with bursts of color from the roses.  It was fabulous looking.  The guests were served lunch (I’d have loved  to know what it was) and then the show began.  I wondered who the lucky people were who got to sit next to Mick and Dustin.  And if they were interesting company?

Packing up wasn’t nearly the nightmare it was last season.  Last season the clothes were so delicate that everyone, including the models, had to wear little white cotton gloves.  We were nervous they would forget to take them off before they went out.  Each piece of clothing had its own bag, and many of the sleeves had to be stuffed with tissue paper.  Then there were numerous pieces that were so delicate they couldnt’ be hung up, so we carefully stuffed each one and placed it in its own box for the journey back to Paris (the clothing line is headquartered in Paris).  It was a painstaking process and took a long time.

Just as we are finishing up, L’Wren comes backstage and tells me we have to unpack everything, because an extremely important person had missed the show and wanted to see them.  Now I am scrupulously polite to clients, but I was so taken off guard that I blurted out, “You’ve got to be kidding me!”  The dressers looked absolutely horrified, they couldn’t believe it.  Unwrap everything?!?  Just then, Suzy Menkes, the long-time influential fashion critic for the International Herald Tribune swept in.  Well at least she genuinely was a big deal, it would have been even more distressing to unwrap everything for someone from the Dubuque Daily Mirror.  Elllen Barkin, who is an close chum of L’Wren’s, hung out and kept her company while we unpacked.  Fortunately we got a bit of a reprieve and did not have to unpack everything, just certain key items.  It still took a long time.

This year it was much easier – no gloves, not as much stuffing and no separate boxes for certain pieces.   Did I mention that the clothes were just gorgeous?  And the 5″ Christian Louboutin stilettos were a nice touch, not that any of those models really needed to be any taller!  I think that’s why they get the big bucks; walking in heels that high – and looking comfortable! – is not easy.  Two girls took a header on the Herve Legere runway earlier in the week because the shoes were so high, and of course the NY Post had to put them on the front cover with some ghastly headline.   Not the kind of cover the models had in mind, I assure you!

It all was great fun and I’m looking forward to September, when they’ll be showing Spring 2010.  And I’ll be sure to tell you all about it!

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