Thursday, March 24, 2011

OFW March 2011: Where Have These People Been All My Life?

Launch Party @ Lobby---------------OFW: Day 1---------------OFW: Day 2

OFW: Day 3


Over the past weekend, Ottawa Fashion Week appeared once again to showcase designers for their Fall/Winter 2011 collections. Adrian WU was and has been the show-stopper for the event, appearing on the final night of the event. There was a great lineup for the entire week, but Sunday had to be my favourite.

Like I've said time and time again, the fashion industry is ALWAYS last minute, and this time was no exception. We were bringing in designers and marketplace vendors up until the day of the event. What's difficult is that we have to print event booklets/literature prior to, so it's a delicate situation to handle in this high-strung environment.

During this role as administrative event coordinator, I was able to land two designers: The Escape Movement and Illyria Design. Both showcased on Sunday, and I must say Illyria has impeccable style herself - she wore this flowy maxi dress that's perfect for resort/spring attire. Both designers I found through my newly created fashion network - ode to the fruits of my labour.

The event assistant and I worked the ticket booths because this season, they upgraded to scannable bracelet entry. Yes, many jokingly complained that it was as if they were in a hospital - and true to their retort, the bracelets came for a medtech company. Unfortunately, technology, though in its good intentions, does not always succeed in its duties. We had some quick thinking to do and resorting to colour-coded stickering to signify different day pass-holders. Maybe next season, scanning will become a reality - just like how Mercedes-Benz NYFW has Blackberry barcodes for entrants.

By the way, the ticket booth wasn't as boring as you may think. My gosh the people that live in Ottawa... that I've NEVER seen on the streets... have impeccable IMPECCABLE fashion sense. They were like right out of the pages of Vogue magazine. I wanted everything they were wearing. And, but of course, our OFW team was working in style too. But seriously, where are all of these people on a normal day basis? Ottawa really is holding down some juicy secrets/treasures. Mind you, there were quite a few big wigs floating around - like The Loft owner, some ambassadors, (the US ambassador's daughter showcased Sunday night), and plenty of celebs walked down the runway at the charity gala - Walk the Truth, where they will auction of one-of-a-kind pieces from several designers for charity.

Yet another surprise, I found out that one of my childhood friends has now become a jewellery designer with her sister. Their line is called MAFIA Jewellery - quite a unique story of how it was founded. They appeared both in the Marketplace and on the runways collaborating with some of the designers.

The venue was held at the National Art Gallery. There was a ramp leading up to the runway room with jaw-dropping architectural eye candy. What a glam place to be. And the runway was a shiny patent white with stage lights lined above - a great way to light up both sides' front row fashionistas/celebs/VIP!

If I get a chance to do this again, I'd love to be part of the production side of the event. But, I'd be backstage the whole time... OR just be VIP front row. Haha.

PS. Yes, those lashes definitely were a conversational piece. Where else could they be more appropriate but at a fashion function .... or halloween? Haha. In this case, I think they do more justice here as an art rather than costume. And, yes.. I could barely see, that and I think I've built eyelid muscle from wearing them all day!

Here's a list of links you can view for coverage of the event:
http://tinfoilstiaras.blogspot.com/ (Emily Brown - social media intern for OFW)

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Everything Out the Wazoo

OFW's AMAZING line-up!

Just like always, when things start picking up it's like a congested pipeline waiting to burst. It's never a calm, gradual momentum... nothing to prepare for but to take it as it comes.

ONE HORRIFIC WEEK.
Last Monday, I was on my way to Toronto. Excited that there was no snow, and clear roads to go. No, I wasn't there for a shopping splurge... I was there to go for a mandatory meeting (I'll let you know in the coming posts what it was for). Anywho... I noticed quite a few cops on the roads while getting there and should have feared more..taken it as warning. BUT... those little nudges didn't felt at all. APPARENTLY, (who knew.. everyone except me) that there are planes i.e. air traffic that works in collusion with cop cars that fly the clouds and monitor traffic through the air. I had no clue where this cop came from until I saw sirens in my rear view mirror. Never have I experienced such a shameful and shocking day. Be prepared for what happened in literally a few minutes:
1. charged for stunt driving; going 50 over; clocked me at 164 km/hr. (stunt driving faces demerit points, and fines of up to $10,000)
2. license was revoked - suspended for 7 days
3. my car was being towed away - impounded for 7 days; total cost: $1350
4. summoned to court in a month
5. left stranded 3 hours away from ottawa, 1 hour away from toronto
6. creepy/shady tow truck dude comes and happily drops off "us beautiful ladies" to the nearest train station

(If you're looking to evade the cops and continue to driving like you're on the autobahn... I heard about this app: Trapster - locates all cops based off of other app-user reports and notifies you based off your gps/mapping system if they are nearby your location. For now, I look at every speed limit sign with disappointment.)
Funny enough, I did make the volunteer meeting on time. Ended up getting home on the Greyhound at 1am - waiting for the inevitable wrath of my parents. My dad.. I can always count on him to be the most rational rock of the family. He could see how much guilt I was already feeling. My mom on the other ... well I felt even worse for the fact that it was her birthday the next day.

So in the next days after:
Tuesday - the previous day I was so out of it, and at that point I still was. I dropped my phone in the snowbank in front of work. I didn't realize until an hour later - lucky I guess that no one took it, but horrible that it got water damage.
Wednesday - I felt like doing some work and getting my mind off things, so I grabbed my memory card with the charity tournament photos I was going to edit. Lo and behold, memory card could not be recognized... Could it get even worse?!
I broke down and cried at 2am... sitting on my bed in utter moppiness...but don't worry. I woke up the next day... a fighter. What's done is done, and now I just have to figure out how to fix things.

ONE HECTIC/GLAM/PARTY WEEK. - aka. OFW.
I'm glad that I was able to get myself back together in a matter of days because there'd be no way I could keep up with all the things going on this week. When Tuesday hit, everything started rolling. Deadlines coming from every direction. The exec production of OFW (Ottawa Fashion Week) put me on for doing up the event booklet for the shows. He actually left for a week (one week before the event for family reasons)...so there was no one to tell me what to do next. But I knew this was coming up, so I took the initiative to start. But, instructions weren't as clear as they could be, and I basically had to finish the booklet in 5 hours of he called me on top of masters applications and working. Plus, there was like no downtime at work since it's March Break this week and GREAT weather. PLUS, no car... I've realized with a busy schedule, bussing in Ottawa is NOT doable.

Great news though! Turns out there's a launch party TONIGHT @ Lobby - invite only. Ooo how exclusive! And it's gonna be glam partying all NIGHT long for the next 5 days. Here's my next few days' schedule: Launch party/runway/party/runway/party/runaway/charity gala/after party!!! From the creative director's words: "What do I need you to do? Take care of everything and look hot. You better have 5 banging outfits ready." AAHHAH... can't wait! Keep you posted with all the festivities up ahead!

I'm thinking right now that I'm going to stick with a theme for my next 5 days' looks. Look forward to the next posts! :)