How to Attend a Fashion Week

Attending a fashion week is a glamorous experience many fashionistas and fashion consumers are very much looking forward to. I had such an opportunity last year – I attended Toronto Fashion Week, officially known as LG Fashion Week Beauty by L’Oréal Paris, March-April 2010. It showed off the new collections for the upcoming Fall-Winter 2010/2011 season. Now, the new Toronto Fashion Week is just around the corner, on March 28th – April 2nd 2011, and it will show new collections for Fall-Winter 2011/2012 season. Based on my own experience, I could share a few tips on how to attend a fashion week.

If you are looking to attend the fashion week in your city, or a specific fashion week from another city (LG Toronto Fashion Week for instance), the first thing first to do is to seek out that fashion week’s official website.

The website should contain such basic information related to the preparations for the upcoming Fashion Week like contact information, volunteer information, fashion week schedule, list of designers presenting their collections during the Fashion Week, buy ticket information, newsletter. Browse all the pages and categories to familiarize yourself with the website and with the steps of the fashion event to come which you want to attend.

Get yourself on the Fashion Week newsletter and you will receive all the information and notifications about the fashion shows.

You could consider volunteering for the Fashion Week, for a closer exposure to the fashion world, for some fashion networking, and why not, for new friends. The website will announce the areas volunteers are needed for. It could be fashion environment, head office administration, décor, event set-up, distributing marketing materials, greeting guests, registration, and other areas. The website will also announce the days and times volunteers are needed.

Once the names of the designers showing their collections in the Fashion Week, the schedule of the shows and buy ticket information are available on the website, decide what show(s) you want to attend and buy your ticket(s) well in advance if you want to attend the show of a specific designer (or several shows). Do not leave buying ticket(s) to your preferred show(s) for the last minute, as you could find them sold out. When I attended Toronto Fashion Week, I wanted to see David Dixon’s fashion show; but when I got around to buy a ticket, all of them were sold out, so I had to choose another designer’s show, Linda Lundstrom’s. Do not let that happen to you, if you are looking forward to see your favorite designer’s collection, and buy your ticket well in advance.

So, you have decided what show(s) to attend, you have already purchased the ticket(s). Next step is going to the Fashion Week itself. How to grab a good seat for the show? Don’t forget that a fashion show is not a concert, and the hall where it takes place is not a huge one, so the seats are limited. It’s just the runway and most of the times 6 rows of seats on one side, and 6 rows of seats on the other side. Your seat is guaranteed of course, since you have bought the ticket for the show; but the problem is where to sit for a good view of the collection(s)? Keep in mind that quite a lot of seats are already reserved in the first rows for VIPs, special guests, media, and the consumers and visitors take their seats in the back rows. Unless the seats are numbered and you have a specific seat for the fashion show, consumers take theirs seats as per the availability, once the reserved seats are occupied. In this case, the best seat is on the last row, because you could stand, for a better visibility, to watch the show without bothering anybody in your back. Anybody who sits in the middle rows cannot stand to watch the show, because in this case they would bother other consumers. When I attended Toronto Fashion Week, I sat on the last row, and I am glad I was inspired to do so, because I could stand for a better visibility without bothering others; but people in front of me sitting in the middle rows could not do so.

How to dress for a fashion show? Fashionable, of course. It’s a glamorous event, so don’t hesitate to dress up. Leave your jeans and T-shirts for more casual occasions, and choose a dressy outfit. The same with the make-up and the hairstyling, they should be stunning. As for the hairstyling, you don’t necessarily have to go to see a stylist before the fashion show, just make sure you have a good hair day.

Have fun at the Fashion Week!