nepo babies and condé baddies
the chaos! the magic! the horror! a fashion week tell-all with my brilliant friends, shelcy joseph and khuyen do.
Happy Sunday! I have wonderful guests today:
and . They’re here to share the nitty-gritty, behind-the-scenes parts of fashion week.If you’ve ever wondered what it’s really like to navigate the fashion week scene—especially as women of color—you’ll love their stories.
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I met Shelcy through social media. We are both freelance fashion writers and one fortuitous week she was in San Francisco so we met up for some wine, pistachios and olives and talked about the highs and lows of freelance fashion writing. I really respect Shelcy’s analytical mind—we think about systemic issues in a similar way. In addition to writing about topics like the African country jersey and the impact of Black Girl Luxury, Shelcy is a content creator and event host.
Khuyen and I also met through social media! When we first met over slices of pie and tea, I clocked her amazing tomato print dress as a classic Rachel Antonoff print. I was so intrigued by career background…it’s hard not to be. For the past decade, she’s been predominantly in Fashion PR for brands like Chloé, Christian Dior and Courreges. Today, she’s a writer, consultant and entrepreneur who is about to launch her own business in the intersection of food and fashion.
Moral of the story: the internet is a wild place but it’s honestly an amazing way to connect with creative people. Send that email/DM!
Ok let’s get into it :)
Interviews have been edited for concision and clarity.
Tell me about your first fashion week.
Shelcy: My sister and I first started attending in 2018. We developed a relationship with the Tory Burch team early on, and kicked off the FW 2018 season with their show, which was a real *pinch me* moment as the team always goes above and beyond with these productions.
Khuyen: My very first official fashion week event was the Chloé FW14 Show in Paris—I remember it so well. It was on my birthday and literally the day before I was to start my very first "big girl in fashion" internship with the Chloé PR Team in Paris.
I remember trying to find the entrance and getting lost in the venue and eating sh*t in a mini skirt in front of a security guard while climbing up the wrong set of stairs.
I also somehow had enough gall at this point to approach Anna Wintour, ask for a photo, AND tell her it was my birthday.
I feel the cringe deep in my soul as I flash back to this memory hahaha.
And then the HAIM Sisters were also in attendance and agreed to take a selfie with me, dubbing me the 4th HAIM Sister with my long hair.
The general perception is that it’s hard to get invited to fashion week events. It’s exclusive by design. Can you break down the politics of it all?
Shelcy: At the luxury brand level, you have to be one of these things to get invited to literally anything—
a nepo baby
work for Condé
be well-connected or have a manager/agent who is
have that je ne sais quoi brands look for in creators
Mass or mid-luxury brands tend to be a bit less precious about their events than their shows or presentations, but there is still a hierarchy because it’s an image-driven world.
Once you get past the A or B-list celebs or social media stars, there’s everyone else. For better or worse, it’s all about the numbers now. But it’s funny because I know some fashion YouTubers who get hundreds of thousands of views but they still don’t get invited to certain luxury shows.
It seems that brands prefer the fluffy, cookie-cutter personality who can only say everything is cute.
Khuyen: It never ceases to amaze me just how many people crash shows and parties successfully. This industry is a prime example of how faking it 'till you make it goes a long way.
Every brand has a different strategy and goals that need to be met—some focus more on influencers, some more on celebrities, some really only care about traditional press.
Seating is a political chess game of prioritizing support, money, icons, friends, and also knowing who can't/shouldn't be seated next to who or else drama WILL ensue.
There’s no such thing as a sure thing in this business. You can be a brand's muse and darling for a long while, a "friend of the house,” but as soon as roles and strategies change, so can your status.
Moments when you realized damn, this is deeply unglamorous…
Shelcy: Anytime someone has to change between shows that are close in time, things can get chaotic quickly. Sometimes it means finding restaurants, public restrooms or more often than not, cars to do it in. Influencers who have an entire team of assistants and make up artists following them around can afford to do it in the most glamorous way, but it’s still pretty hectic although that’s also become a flex.
The majority of people who work in fashion tend to keep it simple, sticking to one hairstyle or beauty look for the whole day, or spacing things out so they have time to go home and change.
Khuyen: The PR team handles the entire runway collection and there's generally only one version of each piece that make their rounds for photoshoots, celebrity appearances, etc.
These are valuable, highly crafted pieces that should be treated with the utmost care, and yet sometimes they're returned to us shoved in a dilapidated box that's clearly too small, the piece is stained, horrific smelling, and sometimes just in tatters. It's pretty shocking.
Or even when you see a handbag that the average person might be coveting and saving up for for years, but at the office it's smushed and thrown around like it's nothing.
I think also just arriving to fashion shows itself is very poorly portrayed. You're stuck in endless traffic and living with the constant fear that you'll miss the next show and then you get there only to be sized up by like hundreds of people who don't hide their disappointment when they realize you're not anyone famous.
And the last thing I'll say that's deeply unglamorous, is the sheer wastefulness of it all.
All of the incredible food installations, the wild floral arrangements, even the gifts. When all's been said and done, most of the time it's to the "trash bin" they go. I would LIKE to think that there is occasionally a brand or two that thinks about this and gives back or donates, but more often than isn't the case.
Most overrated thing about fashion week, go!
Shelcy: The afterparties. Brands will secure the hottest venues, but very few get the vibe right. The playlist tends to be the same disco thing.
No one’s really dancing. Everyone’s preoccupied with who’s who or with getting that BFA shot.
Let’s bring back real dance parties!
Khuyen: Keeping up with the circus of it all. You have to see and be seen, you have to be everywhere, you have to look beyond just presentable.
No, you have to turn heads but effortlessly, you have to be eating and drinking at the "hottest" joints, you have to maintain that fresh and youthful glow even though everyone is burnt out and running on fumes, alcohol and a cocktail of other substances. In short, it's an unsustainable everything, everywhere all at once.
The realities of exhaustion combined with unrealistic scheduling, geographical obstacles, overcommitment, FOMO, and absolute guilt over having to cancel or miss something with the fear and threat of blacklisting yourself, letting someone down, or burning a bridge add fuel to the fire.
WITH THAT SAID, there is a magic about this weirdly specific and superficial grind that makes up a fashion week/fashion month and I'd say there is an energy to it that is unmatched in any other industry. I can say what I want about it but I certainly still partake albeit in moderation these days.
The thrill of being able to participate in such an exclusive, privileged, and star-studded environment is naturally its own level of adrenaline and dopamine that I'm not sure I'd ever want to fully give up, no matter how toxic.
most underrated part of fashion week?
Shelcy: The dinners. When done well, they can be the best way to meet new people or have meaningful conversations. There’s nothing more satisfying than being seated next to an interesting person, but sadly this is more the exception than the norm.
Khuyen: I'll speak to Paris Fashion Week for this—the absolute most underrated thing is getting to discover freaking incredible venues, locales, monuments, etc. Not only are you getting to experience these places as what feels like a VIP (regardless of role or seat placement) with access to parts of it that may not normally be open to the public, but you're also with a specific crowd, so the experience is just further curated.
It's not your average day at the museum with screaming children and hoards of tourists—although you'll still get plenty of iphone wielding hands and elbows in your face.
No but in all seriousness, whether it's for a show or a party, it's pure magic to get to see these magical historical and private venues be transformed for one night.
Going to a party in a special venue in Paris is the best. You're gussied up and you get to explore the place with a drink in hand and more freedom than you would for a show. You choose your own adventure throughout the night and picture what it may have been like to attend these extravagant parties in someone's chateau or hotel particulier back in the day.
It's romantic as hell.
Read more from Shelcy at Market Appointment and Khuyen at The Cakewalk.
Hope you enjoyed this read! How did this stack up to your perception of fashion week? Let us know in the comments.
xoxo viv, shelcy & khuyen
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