Which Designer Reamed Out A Top Model Backstage At Fashion Week?

by Julia Rubin | 5:36 pm, September 8th, 2011

To be a fashion writer is to be a fly on the wall. You aren’t one of the shiny front rowers, nor do you want to be. You slink back a bit, take it in, and hope you observe something noteworthy. And sometimes you do just that.

Certain stereotypes about the fashion industry persist thanks to movies like The Devil Wears Prada and a slew of industry-centric “reality” series. For the most part, fashion isn’t really like those dramatized visions of, well, drama. But Fashion Week is indeed a 7+ day stress fest. Tensions run high, patience is tested. But designers are oh-so-careful about what the press sees and what it doesn’t, so charged flare-ups aren’t usually on display…operative word: usually.

While hanging out backstage at this afternoon’s Imitation show, we watched Lydia Hearst get her makeup done. It was less than a half an hour until show time and Hearst still needed to be primped and prepped. Imitation designer Tara Subkoff was not pleased. In fact, Subkoff barged into the makeup room to tell her so: “I don’t know why you showed up two hours late, but you have to go NOW!” Ouch. “I hope last night was worth it!” Double ouch. A stunned Hearst nodded as Subkoff repeatedly told her she needed to get up at that very moment (“Now now NOW!”) and go downstairs for the walk-through.

This is when it became abundantly clear that Subkoff had no clue that the room wasn’t just filled with back-of-house staff. Hearst later asked for a soda in lieu of champagne, and the show went off without a hitch — though it did start 45 minutes late.

Imitation of Christ lydia hearst Tara Subkoff

Anonymous

How is this newsworthy, Julia Rubin? I hope you’re not getting paid.
http://recklessentanglement.tumblr.com Cori

I say good for Tara. Two hours late is inexcusable in any other professional setting, why not fashion as well?
Bluejeans311

Why ‘ouch’? Most people would suffer much worse from their boss if they showed up 2 hours late on a very, very important day with the excuse of being hung over from being out late. And why would Lydia be ‘stunned’ by this? Surely she can’t be so stupid as to think she would have been praised for extreme unprofessionalism and selfishness, messing things up on a day so many people worked so hard for. Fashion Week only happens once a YEAR. Surely Hearst can manage to keep her act together for a paltry week. Frankly if I had been in Tara’s position I doubt I would have remained that calm. Top model or not, I hope Tara doesn’t hire Lydia again.
neuroticalways

@5d5277be4d8498b3fabaa963576790c0:disqus Bluejeans311. I agree with everything you just said but i do need to let you know that There are two major seasons per year – Autumn/Winter and Spring/Summer. For Womenswear, the Autumn/Winter shows always start in New York in February and end in Paris in March. Spring/Summer shows start in September in London and end in Paris in October. Menswear Autumn/Winter shows start in January in Milan for typically less than a week followed by another short week in Paris. Menswear Spring/Summer shows are done in June. Womenswear Haute Couture shows typically happen in Paris a week after the Menswear Paris shows.Over the past few years, more and more designers have shown inter-seasonal collections between the traditional Autumn/Winter and Spring/Summer seasons. These collections are usually more commercial than the main season collections and help shorten the customer’s wait for new season clothes. The inter-seasonal collections are Resort/Cruise (before Spring/Summer) and Pre-Fall (before Autumn/Winter).The most prominent fashion weeks are held in the four fashion capitals of the world: New York City, London, Milan, and Paris[1]. Some other important fashion weeks in the world are held in Tokyo, São Paulo, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, and in Toronto.
So you see, it’s more than just ONE week. That’s all.
Anonymous

Fyi, fashion week happens twice a year in New York. Spring and Fall. There are countless shows all over the world for the better part of the year, like pre-fall and resort, just to name a couple alternate examples. Not to defend La Hearst, she’s a spoiled brat for sure, but a working model’s fashion week schedule is INSANE including 3am fittings, castings, back to back shows, traffic, and pesky things like eating and sleeping. So you know, it’s one to grow on.

Which Designer Reamed Out A Top Model Backstage At Fashion Week?

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