NYFW 2016 |

To be frank, I don’t know much about the famous designers, barely even knew exactly where fashion week in NYC takes place. A couple of weeks before my trip to Cuba, I got an email from a news outlet wanting me to cover fashion week. Only problem was I wasn’t attending any shows. These shows are invite-only and some are practically impossible to get into unless you’re a well known blogger, model or press. I got to work, pulled out the NYFW calendar and the dates I’d be in NYC. Once I had a list of the shows I was interested in , I emailed their press person saying who I was, what I do , what magazines I’ve been featured in and that I wanted to attend their show. Within days the emails came flooding with only one rejection.
I wasn’t surprised but it made me realize that people were interested in Mama Cax and they believe in the work that she does. All in all, I decided to attend 3 shows – Dan Lui, Leanne Marshall and Alice & Olivia. Word on the street was that Alice + Olivia was going to be one of the best this season.

Dan Lui

I arrived at the Dan Lui show and was greeted by the organizers, instantly realized there weren’t any ramps (I didn’t ask if they had any and no one offered a more accessible option) went up a couple of stairs. As I went in, I was directed to a short line and was seated within 10 min. My seat was close enough to the catwalk to capture some of the great styles.

The show

What I wore

Leanne Marshall

It wasn’t until I got in line that I realized I had a standing ticket, meaning I didn’t have a reserved seat and would need to wait in line until those with seats were seated. After standing in line for nearly 30 min I left the queue and went to the lounge area. There was a screen live streaming the show so I decided to chill there. I quickly dosed off, by the time I woke up, the show was over. hahaha- but my outfit did not go to waste since I ended up attending the Reward Style + Milk Makeup Party

Obviously no pictures from the show, but here’s what I wore

Alice + Olivia

Unlike the previous 2, Alice + Olivia was a presentation. The room is staged and models stand in the designer’s wear. At a show, you see the outfit twice, as the models walk on the runway and the final walk.- A show is normally between 5 to 15 min. At a presentation however, you get to walk around the models,interact with them and see the outfits up close and personal. The only downside to a presentation is that they often get loud and crowded.

As I arrived, I realized there were 2 separate lines, one line was clearly reserved for VIPs. As I made my way to the “regular folks line” a tall, black male staff called me over and said “common girl you’re VIP” So I made my way to the VIP line (Thanks Fam)- Couldn’t help but notice That I was surrounded by tall models and fashion connoisseurs.

The VIPs get to be photographed by the event photographers before entering the presentation. As I got to the front on the line a staff person asked- who are you? I responded “Mama Cax” she stared, confused so I repeated a bit louder MAMA CAX. She was silent so I asked her “You asked me for my name right?” she responded “yes” so I replied “It’s Mama Cax”. I couldn’t help but feel unwanted or not important enough.

As I stood to get photographed Shaun Ross yelled my name. Although we had never met, we were both featured on Instagram’s #RunwayForAll campaign and have some friends in common. Suddenly, every photographer wanted to know my name and even the confused staff member shared a smile with me.

Whether you are doing great work or really great at what you do, Sadly, like everything else, it comes down to who you know.

The show