With all of the hubub surrounding the official start to New York Fashion Week today, it's easy to forget that the fashion crowd has seven more days of breathlessly rushing to shows, sprinting in fashionably impractical shoes and posing (or dodging) in front of the hordes of blogger photographers clustered around Lincoln Center. Everyone it seems has different tips or strategies for how to survive the madness but we're not interested in what just everyone has to say -- we want to hear from the pros! And who better than fashion darlings Alexa Chung and Derek Blasberg?
Catching up with the duo backstage at Lincoln Center after the Honor Show, they shared some sage advice with PAPERMAG about how to be a hit at Fashion Week.
What are your tips for surviving the madness of Fashion Week?
Alexa: Well I'm asked this every time and I never change the answer. My answer is just to drink water or something really lame.
Derek: Hydrate!
Alexa: I'm not heeding my own advice. I'm gasping!
And what about tips on how to get from show-to-show?
Derek: Take the subway! That's a good one.
Alexa: Yeah, take the subway.
Derek: And then people will think you're street!
People make the mistake of taking cabs and cars--
Derek: Too much traffic!
Alexa: You should take the subway.
Derek: Stay underground!
Alexa: And, bring a mirror!
Derek: And a breath mint! Subway, mirror, breath mint, hydrate.
Alexa: And don't lean forward so I can't see the clothes!
Derek: [sings Fat Joe song] "Lean back, lean back"
Alexa: Relax into it!
And there you have it. Bring some mints (which is a good call because gum-chewing looks tacky), snag some swag water (Aquafina seems to be this year's sponsor), ride the subway and bring a mirror (we're partial to smartphone screen protectors that come with a mirror--that way you can nonchalantly check yourself out while everything thinks you're just texting or squinting really intensely at your phone).
Photo via Billy Farrell Agency