KEY POINTS:
Once upon a time, not that long ago, there was a Fashion Week party. It was held after a fashion show in Auckland. And all the people that went were beautiful and dressed in the finest garments. Fancy champagne flowed and the party-goers danced and danced; a few scantily clad models even got up on tables to dance in their high heels. Everyone had the best time and stayed there until four in the morning, dancing, drinking, socialising and looking utterly fabulous, as though they were all secretly in a music video, or maybe an advertisement for strong and sticky energy drinks.
But wait! Before we get too carried away, let's rewind. This doesn't sound like many of the Fashion Week parties yours truly has been lucky enough to attend.
Okay, so some Fashion Week after-events are fabulous and lots of fun. But on the whole, just like fashion shows themselves, fashion parties are not necessarily all they're cracked up to be. So, in case you've been desperately trying to wangle an invitation to some Fashion Week after-party because you think it's going to be all that, then read on - separate the truth from the hype and the fact from fiction, and you won't be disappointed.
MYTH #1
The people are all hot. In fact, most of them are models.
The social pages may make it look this way but that's because the photographers choose the hottest looking invitees to photograph. It makes their job easier. Meanwhile lurking around in the background are all the more ordinary folk.
And actually most of the people attending are older than the models. They tend to be people in the industry - the buyers, the label's customers, the designer's staff and assorted media.
It must, however, be admitted that the percentage of good-looking people is higher and good grooming seems to be fairly standard among the attendees.
And some of the models might come along, especially if they know the designer personally - or perhaps they always work for that label. But many of them are already safe at home, tucked up in bed. One must also remember that quite a few of the models are actually too young to drink legally - and this is particularly pertinent if the party is being held in a licensed premises.
MYTH #2
Everyone who goes is dressed in the latest fashions.
True. Almost everybody is well dressed - not necessarily in the latest fashions but most have made an effort. It is, after, all, a fashionable event - so, yes indeed, they're looking fancy.
MYTH #3
The alcohol is free.
Yes! Quite often the drinks are free, mostly through the designer's sponsorships. It's good for a wine or champagne company to associate themselves with fashionable causes. It makes them look more like the luxury product they wish to be perceived as.
What usually happens, though, is that eventually the drinks run out and a cash bar opens, at which stage you may find that a lot of party-goers leave. Depends how early the gig started but this usually means around 10pm.
MYTH #4
All the men are gay.
If all the men were gay, it would make it easier for straight guys to pick up the good-looking women, wouldn't it? Unfortunately for all the straight men who just gasped and wondered how they could get invited to a Fashion Week party, this is not true. There may be a higher percentage of gay fellows involved in this business but as has been noted before, there are a lot more heterosexual men working in fashion these days.
MYTH #5
All the music is awesome.
To be honest, at most of the Fashion Week parties this writer has attended the music seems to have been a fairly secondary consideration. Mostly everyonestands around drinking, gossiping and checking out everyone's outfits. There isn't really any dancing until much, much later on and then it's usually only the drunk stragglers getting their boogie on (see myth 6).
There are some exceptions - some labels make a big effort to associate themselves with music. Little Brother, for example, has always put on bands at their after-show parties and Nom*D has occasionally done the same. But even at these gigs, it was noted that a lot of the fashion industry types went outside to smoke cigarettes until the band was over.
Whether they're dedicated collectors of music or not, other labels tend toward the DJ-du-jour.
MYTH #6
Fashion Week parties go until early the next morning.
Hardly ever. Mainly because although the designers and their staff want to celebrate a successful show with a few drinks, they also have to get up in the morning and sell the clothes. The folks getting really plastered and hanging around until well after midnight are not the ones working at Fashion Week the next day.
MYTH #7
Everyone has an amazing and wild time.
This one is subjective. If you go to one of these parties, get high on expensive champagne and end up chatting to a whole lot of very good looking 21-year-olds, well then, yes, you may describe that as an amazing time.
Wild? Well, some labels have ended up with a fairly raucous party but this depends on various factors, including how much alcohol has been supplied and when it runs out, the location and how well lit it is (as in, is it a bar, a nightclub, or simply the place they held the runway show?) and what end of Fashion Week we're talking. If it's near the end of the week, it is quite possible Fashion Week-ers will be up for a bit of a blow-out. On the other hand, a lot of the party-goers are in business together, in some way. It's a good opportunity to network but not necessarily the right place to show off your table-dancing skills.
MYTH #8
The best party is the one at the end of the week.
Here, you would be totally wrong. Although the end-of-Fashion-Week party is usually touted as the party to end all parties, chock-full of models, designers and glamourati letting their well-groomed hair down, quite often it is exactly the opposite.
This is mainly because by the end of the week, the people that actually work in the industry have had quite enough of fashion and, possibly, each other. After all, many of them have been together every day for a week. They're tired and on Saturday night, when the end-of-Fashion-Week-party takes place, they're more likely to be at home in their pyjamas, having a cup of tea and a lie down. Although this year, organisers are hoping that won't be the case with top DJ Dangerous Dan of Ksubi headlining the party at Pontoon. There's only one way to find out the truth. Check it out for yourself. Afterall, you can always leave.
