On October 16th, US Vogue’s Forces of Fashion event is dedicated to the art, drama and influence of the runway. To celebrate, we asked our friends in the industry to share their favorite runway-storming stories. Some shared their own experiences, while others shared tales of legendary stormings they’ve witnessed. It seems like just about every editor, stylist, photographer and writer has a story to share. The moral here is that if you want to storm a show (and we don’t condone it), it’s best to slip in quietly and unobtrusively. Get in the standing section. Stand near the photo pit. But whatever you do, don’t sit in the front row. You’ll totally get found out.
I snuck into Marc Jacobs twice before I got a seat the proper way, but my best sneaking episode was when I spotted Sacha Baron Cohen lining up with a camera crew at a show in Paris. He approached punk impresario Malcolm McLaren, who didn’t recognize Bruno but dismissed it as “not my first time.” It was priceless. If you see Bruno (who is less famous than Borat but is worth a watch for his scathing criticism of former Republican presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, who appears in a sex tape in the film), you get to see Baron Cohen at the show. I think I was in the second or third row. – Nicole Phelps, Global Director of Runway at Vogue
“I’m Mark Holgate,” said the man ahead of me in line to check in for the Ralph Lauren show at Skylight Studios in SoHo one September morning a few years ago. Until that moment, I’d been daydreaming absentmindedly about lunch. Perhaps because during fashion week, all you can think about is when to eat. Anyway, maybe I misheard him, because I’m Mark Holgate. No, he said again. “I’m Mark Holgate.” No, no, no, it’s me!
It was a really bizarre subterfuge to break into a runway show, meaning that the person I was pretending to be (me) was standing right behind me. Of course, I would do and say anything to get in the show. One of my favorites was when Edward Enninful and Pat McGrath recently spoke on Forces of Fashion about how they used to sneak uninvited into a show in Paris long before they were industry icons. When asked which media outlets were covering the show, Edward simply replied without blinking, “Vogue Jamaica.”
