What It’s Like To Go To Fashion Week
This doesn’t actually happen here during Montreal Fashion Week.
People are always curious to know what it feels like to attend fashion shows during Fashion Week. As many of you know, Fashion Week is reserved for designers, buyers, VIP clients like the rich and famous, and of course the media blitz of cameras, editors, reporters and journalists. It’s a huge media event and every one wants in on the action of the glitz and glamour.
A long time dream of mine was to attend such a coveted event, and it has come true just last fall. I will share with you a brief scoop of my first experience at Montreal Fashion Week last fall as a writer for Gloss. This will probably dispel a lot of misconceptions of what Fashion Week really is.
Media Coverage
Working for a magazine, newspaper or television requires media accreditation, which means getting a media pass to attend Fashion Week. There are forms to fill out and background checks are done to make sure that the people applying to be media are legitimate. Because most collections are not ready for public distribution and they want to reduce the risk of knock offs taking place before they’re able to deliver the goods. This is why Fashion Weeks are held 6 months prior to the actual season to give time for manufacturers to produce the collections for retail, as well as giving magazines time to spruce up their Fall or Spring issues.
Once you get your pass, you’re bombarded with folders containing press releases from each designer, inauguration meetings, cocktail hours, and a lot of schmoozing. Fashion Week isn’t held in one single venue specifically, there were many off site events going on during the week, some held their own fashion shows in their private boutiques, and there were a lot of after parties in the hippest clubs.
E.R.A. Vintagewear a Hidden Gem
Being brainwashed for too long that vintage wear usually equals something pulled out of your grandmother’s closet, or sold in stuffy vintage boutiques, I was never keen on wearing “vintage” no matter the hype.
Then came along E.R.A, a store that specializes not only in fully restored vintage clothing but they are also handpicked to correspond to the latest trends in fashion. Owner Elaine Léveillé is a veteran fashion stylist who has worked with many people in the industry including Yves Jean Lacasse for ENVERS and worked during Toronto’s L’Oreal Fashion Week. I had met her a couple of times after reading about it in Elle Magazine and got to know a little more about how she came about opening her own boutique.
Fact being, this woman collects vintage wear and has a warehouse full of it. She restores not only clothes but also has an extensive collection of accessories from velvet belts, patent leather clutches and suede platform shoes from the 70s. One of the cool tactics she has is ripping pages from fashion magazines and sticks them on certain items that corresponds to today’s trends. A purse from the 1950’s made of gray crocodile-like skin with metal plated corners was strikingly similar to the shiny new red Prada purse which was worth thousands. Her vintage purse? $45.
Actually most of the stuff in her store are surprisingly cheap, on average about $45-50 a piece, the more expensive pieces are coats and vintage designer wear like Versace and Yves Saint-Laurent. Granted the clothes are not perfectly tailored as the clothes are today, but at the price you pay, tailoring it is worth the trouble.
Elaine also has a steady flow of her own clients, I’ve only been to the store twice and every time she’s had many of her clients gush at how fabulous some of her stuff was. I myself was fancying a shimmering chainmail dress and a gold crocheted vest, but I restrained to buy them just yet.
I say it’s totally worth the detour to the bubbling corner of “Antique Alley” on Notre-Dame.
E.R.A. Vintagewear
1800 Notre-Dame West (near Guy)
