I want to be able to describe how special it was to be able to be backstage at the Karen Walker show. There were moments of stress, sincerity, humour and awkwardness…
Day 5 from New York Fashion Week Fall ’14 from ThreadNZ’s reporter Iris Chan on location at NYC to bring us daily highlights, streetstyle, and backstage reports.
Read her NYFW 1 Diary on Thread here
and Behind the Scenes with MoroccanOil at Cushnie et Ochs here.
Soundtrack for Part 1 of the Day: Strange Little Girls by Tori Amos
First thing first for this diary entry. Jiali of Team Karen Walker – you are a rockstar!
Karen Walker Day. I know I usually have more pictures to illustrate this, but have you seen my video? We shot a video backstage at Karen Walker’s New York show! Watch it here; it illustrates much better than any picture could.
{global_content name=’Karen Walker backstage 2014′}
Is there anything better than having a hometown girl make it in the Big Apple? It’s a fabulous story… And one that you will soon be reading in the NZ Herald’s Viva. How do I know this? Because I helped their reporter and photographer find the studio for Karen Walker.
I want to be able to describe how special it was to be able to be backstage at the Karen Walker show. There were moments of stress, sincerity, humour and awkwardness. Some of the awkward supplied by me. Read more about KW Backstage here.
I was petrified. Like a hack poet at the Algonquin Table waiting for Dorothy Parker to decimate me with her cutting wit (I’ve always wanted to use this analogy in New York, forgive me). Or in my case, a seasoned fashionista would banish me to the front of house with a very manicured hand. Why? Because I wasn’t there with a PR agency backing me up. I had to do this on my own.
I tip-toed around and a friendly smile greeted me asking if I wanted to know more about Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics. Beauty products. My comfort zone.
Benjamin Puckey is the lead make-up artist. He was softly-spoken and answered my questions with efficiency. Plus he just exuded cool. As did the whole make-up artist team. It must have been a CV requirement.
I backed out of the pit and saw the photographer from Viva. Her name escapes me, but she was the loveliest person ever. (Babiche? – Ed) She made my heart ache for New Zealand and my friends there; I wish I could have talked to her for a while longer. But she had work and so did I.
Below: That’s A Lot of People.
So I snuck around, taking footage of moments. I didn’t join the mosh pit of photogs (they were bigger than me), I didn’t grab Karen or models for exclusive shots. I failed in that respect. I was fascinated with the hustle.
I noticed a gorgeous woman that I mistook as a model, but soon realised she was styling the models. Kiwi model-cum-stylist, Kat Neale, made her mark at Calvin Klein and has since gathered an impressive list of clients. This was her first Karen Walker show and it was an impressive one.
Below: Cool Kat.
I’d promised Megan I would wish Karen good luck. Frog in my throat, I worked up the courage to approach her. Karen was lovely, smiled and made me feel at ease. She took her time with me and didn’t at all seem annoyed as I delayed her.
My deed done, I perched on a couch to continue to people watch. I struck up a conversation with some of the production staff. These are my people. I was once one of them: a runner, a wrangler. We shared war stories about models, drag queens and actors. Nostalgia…
As show time approached, the activity flurried exponentially. There was a bit more panic in voices, flashes went off like Guy Fawke’s fireworks, coffee ran out, models were running from one place to another…
Kat was a machine, perfecting every look, ordering the team of stylists on what to perfect. Then I noticed Karen; she walked quietly to the side and leaned against the wall. She was serene as everything else was not.
In an industry that accepts exclusivity and prima donna behaviour, Karen isn’t any of those. Earlier, I saw Karen turn to one of her staff and ask if that person’s mother had arrived safely. A sweet and tender moment that seemed to dissolve away, if only briefly, the madness of the day.
So there Karen stood, by the wall, all of the attention focused on the models. I raised my camera to capture her tranquillity. A sweet nana figure walked into frame, standing at least a foot shorter than Karen. And all at once, Karen chatted animatedly with this petite sweetheart. It made me smile as I put my camera down.
There wasn’t much more for me to see and I needed to get my seat. Soon the show would start…
Did you catch our first ever New York Fashion Week streetstyle video on Thread? Watch it here.
{global_content name=’NYFW Streetstyle 2014′}
Words and photos, Iris Chan
12 February 2014
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