The Academy of Art University’s fashion week passed in a blur of events, all of which I carefully blocked out on my semi-tacky Anne Taintor calendar. As I reflect on the week over a pot of coffee and spoonfuls of Nutella, I’m starting to realize that it’s the sweet, small moments that count.
The biggest of the “small” moments was participating in a roundtable discussion with Suzy Menkes and 5 of my fellow journalism students on Wednesday morning. Suzy’s engaging verbal command makes it feel like every word she divulges is an intimate secret. One of those secrets was that Madonna has been reading Suzy’s book The Windsor Style in preparation for an upcoming movie role as the Duchess of Windsor. Thank goodness I snatched the out-of-print book from the library before Gladys Perint Palmer shared our “secret” with the rest of the School of Fashion.
The next exciting small moment was being approached by Walter Van Beirendonck at the static show (the show before the big fashion show). I wrote about Walter in my very first published article (in One Eighty) so shaking Walter’s bauble-laden hand was a definite milestone. The only person more excited to shake Walter’s hand was the recipient of an unexpected internship he offered.
Finally, it was time to watch the show, which I got to share with my friend of the last 5 years, graduating designer Emma Erickson (who scored an internship with Hervé Léger.) She guided me through the show with encouraging commentary such as “You’ll like this collection… it’s what you’d buy if you could have whatever you wanted.”
But, for that moment, standing in the nosebleed section of the bleachers and witnessing the camaraderie and pats on the back between this year’s group of close knit graduating designers, I had everything I wanted.
Written by: Kalla Vieaux
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