NYTimes Fashion Week Diary - Guerrilla-Style

There is a real war going on at the Tents - the crowd of photographers are putting their lives on the line to get that "special moment". There are 50 photographers per 20 models in a tiny space. They are allowed to stay for a very limited time only so they document everything and anything. Every quiver of an eyelid, every abstract-shaped crack on the wall, So to capture something "special" in this environment, something "unseen" by the other photographers I would need quantum physics technology.

However, I discovered a secret weapon, all by chance. Even though I had my NYT credentials, I sneaked into the venues pretending to be the model in the show. It would spare me from getting stuck for an hour in the Press check-in and avoid the security and the PRs. I discovered this trick at the Jason Wu show. When I entered the backstage area the producers screamed in horror "Oh my God! - You are not done" (thinking I was the late arriving model). I was jammed into a chair, and a team of four started doing my make up, hair and manicure. That's when I used NYT credentials as my escape weapon… Thanks to this confusion I was able to remain backstage while the rest of the photographers got kicked out - usual practice before the models start getting dressed. I used this trick ever since in order to get those extra special moments while all the fun and commotion happens. Sometimes I even adjusted my own makeup and hair so I could blend in with the models like a Chameleon (for example the "look" would be hair pulled tightly back, or in a braid).