The last time I rode this exhilarating ride, I was a PR intern for Donna Karan Intl. As a wide-eyed intern living in New York for the first time, Fashion Week was the epitome of glamour. With the wave of a laminated all-access pass around my neck I, a college junior hailing from Indiana and far from my Chicago home, was granted access to the most sought after spot: the backstage of both the Donna Karan and DKNY runway shows.
Of all my fond memories of that first fashion week, what always sticks out in my mind is my first encounter (and top embarrassing moment) with VOGUE Editor-in-Chief, Anna Wintour. As luck would have it, this year's embarrassing moment made Page 6 of the New York Post.
As a Donna Karan intern during NYFW, my tasks at the shows involved everything from gift bag stuffing to escorting guests (even Susan Sarandon!) to their seats. When I first spotted Anna Wintour she was, in short, a contradiction: she was small and fragile but had a powerful presence. She was seated along side VOGUE Editor-at-Large, Andre Leon Talley, another force to be reckon with and together they were like the gods of the fashion world.
Being an intern and as wide-eyed as a deer, I was in awe and made it a point to stay in her section. The seating of the show was painted crisp white over 4 levels of hollow wooden bleachers surrounding the runway. Anna was snugly seated in the front row amidst A-list celebrities and solemn faced security guards who stood at the top row, overseeing the crowds.
I inched closer to Anna and finally dared myself to walk by her and up the stairs of her section; in retrospect this was pointless but being an overly confident intern sporting an all-access pass, I wanted to catch the eye of the VOGUE powerhouse. I cooly strolled by Anna, briefly held her eye-contact while flashing a 1000-watt smile then walked up a step and felt, in horror, as my heel got caught on the bleacher. As thought in slow motion, I felt my balance waver and the entire weight of my body fall on the hollow bleachers in the most elite section of the show. The sound of my clunky heels and skirt clad bum hitting the bleachers next to Anna seemed to reverberate around the entire room in a moment that felt as though it would last forever.
Dear reader, if ever you should have a moment as mortifying as this the best advice I can give is to not look back; I simply stood up, stifled a tear and walked forward to the pitying looks of the security guards ahead.
Thankfully Fashion Week 2012 was not a repeat of such embarrassment but as it seems my luck to have these run-ins with Ms. Wintour, this year brought with it another Anna encounter.
While manning the doors at MILK studios for the GILLETTE fashion week events, my co-worker and I were left standing in a relatively empty lobby having already checked in the majority of media and guest editors. At this moment, my breath caught in my throat as a solo Ms. Wintour casually strolled up the lobby towards the two of us.
I immediately recognized her iconic sunglasses, but my co-worker didn't and casually asked if she was there for our event, a party that--to put it frankly--would never see the likes of VOGUE's Editor in Chief. Anna's silence was deafening, her stare unwavering and annoyance palpable as she stared blankly at the two of us. As though in slow motion, I turned and tried to subtly alert my co-worker who we were speaking with. Just as quickly as she came in, Anna promptly left and disappeared into a waiting town car outside the studio. Ends up Anna was looking for a show that was not there but as trivial as the encounter was, evidently it was enough to make Page 6.
Here's till next time, Anna..
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