Part of Fashion Week’s elusive appeal is that you can’t get in. And we don’t mean ‘you’ as a collective term, we’re talking about you specifically. Fashion Week is the preserve of proper industry types and the beautiful people who act as their muses and, as a result, passes to the shows and guest list spots for the parties afterwards are reserved for the people who are truly on ‘the inside’.
But, with a certain amount of ballsiness and a generally lax attitude towards telling the truth, you too can make it past the velvet rope and party with the fashwan types. We asked people who have been going to Fashion Week for years to give us a guide to blagging your way in.
As an aside, all of these tips should probably come accompanied with the liberal application of black clothes. They seem to really like black clothes.
Don’t bother with the shows
According to Pandora Skyes, fashion blogger, Wardrobe Mistress and former Debriefer, there really is no point actually trying get into the shows. ‘Getting in to the shows? No chance,’ she told us. ‘I mean, ANYONE can get into the outer area and twirl their stuff – so go do that. But don’t try and sneak into a show... it’s not worth the pain. Live stream it from your bed and eat ice cream, instead.’
So we’ll be sticking to the parties then…
The ‘hey babes!’ blag
Ella Toal Ganger has worked in fashion PR for eight years and, in that time, she picked up one pretty nifty trick to help get you into a part. ‘Just pretend that you’re insanely good friends with the PR girl working the door,’ she tells The Debrief.
‘Give her a massive hug, call her babes and ask how she’s been. Maybe even sa,y “It’s been ages” or something. It alway worked with my whenever I worked on the door because you’re so blindsided by what’s going on and kind of embarrassed that you don’t recognise them that you just let them in anyway. And obviously make sure you look chic as hell.’
Genius.
The one that will cost you £20
If pretending to be the PR’s oldest friend doesn’t work, you’re probably going to have to dig deep into your pockets according to Conor Rua, a fashion PR at Jon Doe.
‘If you’re one of those rare people that doesn’t pass for Donatella Versace there is still a way,’ he tells us. ‘What I would always recommend is to walk up to the bouncers and put a score in his hand, accompanied with the ‘Whatsup?’ head nod.
‘The key to success is that it needs to be executed with full commitment and confidence, and it works much more often that you’d think.’
Did this tip remind anyone else of that episode of Friends when Chandler can’t subtly pass a waiter at a restaurant a $20 bill? Time to start practising then…
The ‘I’ve left my bag in there’ blag
Grace Frankling was a fashion intern for a (bank balance busting) five years and, in that time, she managed to blag her way into the after-parties for fashion houses PPQ, Henry Holland and even Burberry. Fancy. Her trick? Pretending she’d already been in.
‘I’d literally just turn up late, go up to the PRs and say, “Do you mind if I run back in? I think I’ve left my bag in there.” It would work all the time. Also – and this is quite naughty – but I used to check my boss’s schedule and take her tickets for the parties she wasn’t going to and just go in under her name.
‘This obviously only works if your boss isn’t super well known in the industry. The other thing me and the other interns would do is “share” each other’s stamps. If you have to get a stamp on your hand before you go in, you just lick it and press it on someone else’s hand and it makes a faint transfer. It’s not massively hygienic, but who cares when there’s free booze?’
The one when you just point a camera and hope for the best
Jack Pains has worked as a street style photographer for two years during Fashion Week and, he’s found, even just turning up with an fancy-looking SLR could be enough to convince someone that he’s on the list.
‘People just assume that you’re working if you turn up pointing a camera,’ he told us. ‘Wearing black and looking in an massive hurry also helps – almost as if the PR has pissed you off by asking for your details because you’ve got more important things to be getting on with. It’s not big, it’s not clever, but it’s got me into at least two parties.’
Right. Has anyone got a camera we can borrow?
Like this? Then you might also be interested in:
Eight Things To Say To Make It Look Like You Were At Fashion Week
Seven Things You Only Know If You’re A Model During Fashion Week
London Fashion Week Celeb Spotting: Which Bars To Spend Your Time At
Follow Sophie on Twitter @SophieCullinane
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.