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Occupy Wall Street Is Trying To Shut Down Today’s Calvin Klein Show (UPDATED)

by Justin Fenner | 9:36 am, February 16th, 2012

We’d been wondering whether Occupy Wall Street would try to make a statement during Fashion Week, and it turns out they’ve had something planned for the last day of shows all along. OWS organizers plan to march on the first of this afternoon’s two Calvin Klein‘s runway presentations, and they’re going to set up a makeup booth when they get there.

Gawker reports that OWS marchers will leave Zucotti Park and march to the West 39th Street venue where Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa will stage the first of his two shows at 2 pm. Their plan, according to organizer Justin Stone-Diaz, is to convince 99 of the few hundred people arriving outside the show space to put on dripping red eye makeup to give the appearance that they’ve just been pepper sprayed. Stone-Diaz told Gawker that the 99 figure is representative of the 99 percent, and that the eye makeup tactic will show solidarity with the University of California at Davis students who were drenched in pepper spray during their Occupy protest last year.

If OWS organizers can’t get 99 people to wear the makeup, Stone-Diaz says things are going to get uncomfortable during the second presentation, which starts at 3 pm. Another organization, the Queer Transgender Direct Action group, will be in place to make sure the show doesn’t happen at all.

Our prediction? Things are going to get real ugly round about 3 pm. There’s nothing that the fashion industry loves more than a worthy cause, and there’s no shortage of people who work in the industry who can relate to wage inequality, paying taxes out the nose and having to watch longingly as some people get rich and others toil and toil to make ends meet. But the Calvin Klein show — and in fact most shows presented during Fashion Week — is an opportunity to see American design talent at its very best, and we don’t think anyone who was lucky enough to get on the list for the show would dare do anything to disrupt it, no matter what their economic circumstances are. (Still, we have to acknowledge that shutting down a show would be a difficult thing to do without a little help from the inside, so we wonder if maybe they’ve already gotten people to agree to participate?)

Whether they do or not, OWS is essentially saying, Hey, you know this incredible show you’re about to see that only a few people get to attend? Wanna protest everything it stands for with us?! But Stone-Diaz is optimistic that those who are really feeling the strain will take this special fashion moment to make a social statement.

“As occupiers, we don’t really understand that world the way the people in the fashion industry do,” Stone-Diaz said. “We know there are people in the fashion world who are going through the same problems we are. A lot of our friends in fashion don’t have health insurance, they’re working in weird situations.”

You know what else is a weird situation? This protest. There’s more information about the protest here.

UPDATE: The Calvin Klein PR people are already playing offense against the OWS protesters. They’ve just asked the show’s invited guests to bring email confirmation and provide photo ID for access to the show.

As a reminder, you are confirmed to attend the Calvin Klein Collection Fall 2012 Women’s show today at 2PM.  We have been made aware that the Occupy Wall Street movement has plans to stage a non-violent demonstration in the vicinity of our show.  Please note that we have taken extra security efforts to ensure the safety of our guests and that the entrance process into our venue is as seamless as usual.  In light of this, all guests will be required to show email verification of a seat assignment and a form of photo identification. Please bring both with you this afternoon.

[Gawker]



  • Averyc08

    annoying

  • Donna Cook

    Occupy a job, people, or a soup kitchen. This isn’t the 60′s and you’re not influencers. You are a nuisance and an embarassment to your parents and America.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_34VQ3NDNOFFUF6R7ALXY6O33S4 Cal

    That’s the whole point, moron. The protests are about the lack of jobs. And they certainly are “influencers”. They’ve successfully shifted the political debate away from the ignorant “austerity” policy of Republicans and toward job creation where the American people wanted it to be all along.

  • Anonymous

     That means it worked.

  • Elizabeth Faraone

    I support the Occupy movement and I encourage everyone who has a conscience to support it.

  • Elizabeth Faraone

    Donna, you insult your own intelligence.

  • Elizabeth Faraone

    Imagine how horrible it is to be homeless, without health care, without proper nutrition and without human rights.  Your annoyance will not be considered.

  • Elizabeth Faraone
  • AIiveStiIIKickin

     So do many liberal athletes.
    I guess that also makes you an athletic supporter.

  • Elizabeth Faraone

    Your humor is similar to Rush Limbaugh’s.  You try to be funny, but you don’t know how to be.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KV4RFCL74WV652VV43U3GDPAEY Stephen W

    the so-called occupy movement is nothing but unruly trouble makers with no direction or purpose.  it is total cra p 

  • wayne smith

    the fashion industry is full of limousine liberals. it is full of  people that would love to pretend to support the ows movement. i am sure that once this is over they will go back to pretending to supporting the ows movement. 

  • Elizabeth Faraone

    Stephen, you have no direction or purpose .. and that’s why you choose to get your opinions from the main stream media … learn the facts of the occupy movement … not the gossip

  • AIiveStiIIKickin

     Occupiers and their miscreant supporters just have no sense of humor when they are correctly labeled as “human debris”

  • http://twitter.com/angelsavant ~AS~

    Re The Chics Pic: Do U think she’s thinking she’s just an endless line of barbie dolls on parade? The Fashion Trap

  • http://twitter.com/Aidan66 Aidan O’Brien

    nice to see some sheeple are starting to awaken and be stirred by true facts. 24,000 babys die from starvation daily and or neglect daily. how many pairs of calvin clien unerwear is that?? 

  • Anonymous

     now if those same sheeple would just be stirred by the true facts about all the babies that die from abortion each day: check the records, it’s more then 24,000……………

  • Elizabeth Faraone

    You’re simply not funny …

  • Elizabeth Faraone

    Say “No” to icky men that will impregnate you and imprison the rapists.  Problem solved.  No pregnancies, no abortions.  Now about feeding the hungry … say “No” to corruption and “Yes” to ending suffering

  • Elizabeth Faraone

    and you are a sociopath …

  • Keitholberdude

    I did imagine that, then I went out and got a job. I found that a much better solution than sitting around in my own filth tweeting my discontent with a system that give me the opportunity to be successful. Key word, opportunity.

  • Keitholberdude

    I abhor the occupy movement and I encourage everyone with a sense of decency, or better yet a sense of smell, to abhor it.

  • AIiveStiIIKickin

    You’re rambling….LIBBY

  • Johny3666

    i’d happily cut your face into shreds. Pity you didn’t die on 9/11

  • sachin singh

    Fashion week was really rocking this time. I heard about the event from my friend who visited the event it was really an awesome festival for fashion lovers.
    http://www.fetise.com/men/ is also a one stop shopping destination for fashion lovers in India.

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