Another Season of Olympus Fashion Week Begins--Spring 2007 Collections

Beginning with the John Bartlett show at 9:00, Olympus Fashion Week for the Spring 2007 collections begins this morning.

I'm not at Bryant Park or at the shows today, or I wouldn't be typing this brief report to get my Beauty Blog reports, rolling.

But YESTERDAY, I spent over an hour in a long line, waiting to pick up my press credentials. My decision to "dress down" was a good one, since those wearing "fashionable" shoes were shifting uneasily and uncomfortably in place. Humbled by the notion that rank doesn't have any priviledge at fashion week, a professional photographer (35 years doing fash photography) stood in front of me on the line. Behind me, two lovely young women -- a makeup artist (she worked on the first season of American's Next Top Model) and her model-esque sister--were picking up credentials for the first time.

As a "veteran" of just a few seasons' worth of fashion week, I guess I stood properly, smack in the middle.

As with every fashion week before this one that I've attended, standing on exhaustingly long lines is part of the routine for all but the most "couture" press (by that I mean Anna, Leon, and perhaps, the editors from Marie Claire and Allure). But the thing is, you meet the most interesting and gracious people on the line so in some respects, this "forced networking" is a bit like the connections made in boot camp. You suffer a bit together, but you also form useful and sometimes, lasting, bonds.

Press registration supposedly only opened at Noon and I was there 20 minutes later, but by the time I got inside to get my plastic badge, enabling me to enter the tents, they were almost out of lanyards to wear the tags around your neck --a must--when you're juggling pads, pens, voice recorders, cameras and other equipment.

If you go to Bryant Park, even if you don't have the credentials to get into the tents, the folks from THE DAILY, the organizer's own publication, will be giving out printed copies of the magazine throughout fashion week. I am increasingly confounded by podcasts, ezines, and magazines that tell you that if you read their publication, you will be an insider...but by reading about all you've missed (and how it's so exclusive you couldn't even DREAM of being invited) you are in essence, being validated as an outsider.

Maybe it's risky to say it's not all fashion "glam" out there, but reporting on clothes is still the most important part of fashion week. I mean, it IS a trade show....for buyers and other influentials who will decide what's going on our backs for the coming season. I have a chance...and I'm taking it...toshare "real" news from fashion week Monday through Friday of next week. I'll be there. I'll take you inside the life of a beauty and fashion writer and you'll see what I see...as an insider.

Stay tuned