A Fashion Week Story
Weeks of preparation, seeking for collaborations, haunting the right dress, the trendy shoes, that lovely skirt you saw months ago, wishing you had bought it back then so you wouldn’t be running from one place to another trying to find that specific one missing piece, oh and accessories! Don’t forget about the accessories, they really make the difference.
Find the right detail and create an outstanding outfit, you’re going to a fashion week, remember you need to stand out. Hours spent in front of the bathroom mirror, doing your hair, trying new hairstyles, thinking of getting a new look, changing your mind about it, then again. Applying make up you probably would never wear on a normal day. Trying to recreate someone’s beauty tutorial you saw on YouTube, remembering you are not a make up gurú and would never become one. !
Rush. Excitement. Stress. Passion. Happiness. Work. Work. Work.
Then you remember, this is supposed to be passion, you should be being yourself. You don’t have to recreate anything, you’re going to fashion week because you deserve it for being you.
There is such a fine line between passion and consumption, especially in this field. Let me explain...
This is where the story truly begins:
Fashion Week overall means work, weather you are a designer, stylist, event organizer, blogger, journalist , photographer, whatever. Fashion Week is investment financially but also physically and psychologically.
Now, the difference for everyone comes with what they're supposed to be doing.
Some may only sleep for 4-5 hours a night during fashion week time because of the last minute details they still have left to arrange.
Some may enjoy a normal 8-hours-long sleep during night, not worrying about what’s coming next. Those, in general, are the big names in the industry. They have an entire team working on every detail for them - Now, the thing is: some of them worked their way to the top and some simply got lucky to be there, that’s fate.
On the other hand, some people may not sleep at all. This specific category is for those trying to build up their names in the industry all by themselves. Those who don’t have enough connections to make a living out of their dream, those who are still learning how to keep up with this crazy world they want to get in.
Fashion Week means pinched toes, no lunch breaks, headaches, bleeding toes from fancy shoes, hours spent to get dressed, fittings, photo-shootings, video-shootings, projects, editing, posting on time, deadlines and many more.
All this work could be easily simplified if you would do all the “online part” during social events, where you’re attention is not necessarily needed but your presence is. Yeah, that might work out for somebody who’s name is already “out there”. On the other hand, for someone building an image, those are the most important parts: socializing, meeting people, creating friendships, partnerships possibilities, all in order to make their dream come true: getting “a red cent” by doing what you love. Those would prefer to stay up late at night creating content in order to be present where they need most.
Fashion Weeks are always fun, as long as there is passion. It took me 4 Fashion Week seasons to realize that this industry moves so fast that it may consume one’s soul out. The pressure of always exposing a certain image of yourself, to be on the good side of the spotlight in order to make a living, really makes me wonder if “living the dream” is worth damaging the health. Because trust me, it is not a healthy lifestyle.
Don’t get me wrong, I love fashion week, fashion in general, it opened up so many opportunities to me that I would have never dreamed of, but what I try to do is to put out there its dark side too. The side nobody speaks about. It’s not all glam and fancy events with famous people, it’s hard work and sacrifices more than anything. This is what I want people to understand.
After all I’ve experienced so far I came to this conclusion: As long as it remains a passion for me, the fashion industry is the way to go. I would be more than happy if I get to live from doing what I love most, but under no circumstances I plan to let it consume me as a human being. I’m still here, as a person, not only online, I want to live the moments I decide not to share with my community. I would never want to lose myself just to keep the image someone expects from me.
This world might be hard to understand but those who do, know that this is not for everybody.
I do plan to continue to do what I love for as long as it makes me happy. I will forever be honest about it.
