Toronto L'Oreal Fashion Week Fall Winter 2007

The Devil Wears Torontostreetfashion.com Fashion Assistant Challenge

Torontostreetfashion.com put out the call and students from Toronto's fashion colleges applied to be Ms. Sonja Andic's fashion assistant during fashion week. Entrants didn't know exactly what the position entailed, but were willing to carry bags, take notes and run errands for the chance to insider schmooze and experience fashion week...

Winner Melissa Kavalench, 3rd year Ryerson fashion communication student understands the Toronto street fashion sensibility. She's funny, self-effacing and proactive! Here's her view:

DAY 3: Global Warming Diversion, SD+R and Lessons Learned
by Melissa Kavalench

March 16, 2007

So today is the big finale of this surreal experience. I think because it’s the last day and I’m a smidge sad, I have no fight left and I raise the style white flag. I decide on a pair of black pants I’ve had since the first time tapered jeans were cool, and a 50s style jacket. My feet are starting to look (and feel) like they were some dog’s chew toy, but my flats are still the most reasonable shoes to wear for standing. I think I’ll just make best friends with band-aids and keep my fingers crossed.

I arrive at Liberty Grand and meet up with Sonja only to find that a whole bunch of shows have been switched around because of some seriously juicy gossipy reason…that I unfortunately missed. So we jet off to a screening of a global warming documentary by George Browne who works for Canwest. Apparently it’s at some super exclusive club on King and Portland that you normally can’t even get into unless you are a member. Lucky for me, today is an exception.

So we get to this club and they have to buzz us inside! We end up hanging out in a room which looks like a converted art gallery with all these amazing natural free-standing sculptures. I can’t shake this feeling that I’m crashing this hip party and I keep waiting for my mom to show up and snap at me “don’t touch that!” Before I know it I’m conversing with Catherine, the VP of marketing of Canwest (Please note “conversing” in this instance actually means “standing there dumbfounded while intellectual conversation takes place around me”).

The documentary is deep and moving, it’s kind of a weird, but nice, break in the fashion week scene. All this talk of global warming makes me feel so overwhelmed. I want to do something but at the same time I feel so small and incapable of making a difference. Suddenly I’m having too many deep thoughts. Shake it off, shake it off. There is still much work to be done tonight.

To get ready for this serious work I go with the TSF women to Fionn McCools on King for a little bit of social lubrication. This is the point that I feel that I must share with everyone else all the great things I’ve learned this week:

Why not ask? The worst thing they can say is “no,” but most of the time they say “yes.”
Act like you belong there, never let them see any break in confidence and when they question you, act shocked that they would question you.
Know your industry, know the people in it and talk to these people, no matter how uncomfortable it is.
If it has white furry spots on it, not matter how small they seem, just don’t eat it (not really related but a valuable lesson nonetheless)

Finally the last stop on my whirl-wind tour takes me to the Phoenix (a familiar stomping ground but I keep this detail quiet to save my dignity). It’s the SD'nR party and as the show starts I realize it is by far my favorite show I’ve seen. It’s so edgy and rock and roll and exactly the way I would love to dress in a perfect world. Speaking of a perfect world, the Fashion Channel's Glen Baxter is suddenly standing to the right of me. Sonja is talking me up to him (have I mentioned how amazing she is?) and so then I take over and start talking to him. A random photographer is taking our picture and this is the best night ever. Before I know it it’s 12:30 and I’m walking out the door, back into my normal life.

In hindsight this was an amazing learning experience for me, no matter how “after-school special” that sounds. Sonja and Rachel and all the TSF team were just so great. The remainder of the fashion crowd was a lot nicer than I imagined them to be and so all those hours of practicing intimidating faces in the mirror were a complete waste of my time (“Are you talking to me?...Are YOU…talking to ME?”)

But this isn’t the end, it can’t be the end. Let’s use some really cheesy cliché like “It’s only the beginning.” I’ve got the bug and I’m going to arm myself with all these great lessons I’ve learned and run head first into the fashion trenches.

>> back to DAY 1: Wardrobe Woes

>> back to DAY 2: Courage and Jeanne!

~~ SONJA 5-DAY DIARY 1 2 3 4 5 ~ The ASSISTANT's VIEW 1 2 3 ~ PARTY PICS 1 2 3 ~ SHOWS ~
L'Oreal Fashion Week Fall 2007 Collections Kick Off Show Jason Meyers MONDAY, March 12 Philip Sparks Menswear Hustle with Bustle Pantages Uniforms Boutique Le Trou Photo Party @Cheval Amie Scott Fashions TUESDAY, March 13 Holt Renfrew Media Cocktail Boutique Le Trou: A Retail Piece Mackage Don't Tell My Booker Opening Night Party WEDNESDAY, March 14 Tevrow & Chase Arthur Mendonca Fashion Nation Hanes Brands Inc. Lucien Matis Rudsak Andy The-Anh Comrags David Dixon Zoran Dobric THURSDAY, March 15 Andrew Majtenyi Fashion Psychology Pat McDonagh Izzy Camilleri Joeffer Caoc Pink Tartan Off the Beat 'n Path feat. Common Cloth, Namoda et al. @ Ukula Fashion Rocks feat. Dollhouse, FutureState et al. @ Phoenix FRIDAY, March 16 Thien Le Kavi Kavi Saniya Khan Franke Joe Fresh Style GSUS Greta Constantine JUMA Bustle SD+R Show and Afterparty SATURDAY, March 17 Holt Renfrew Meet the Designers		The Devil Wears Torontostreetfashion.com Fashion Assistant Challenge Torontostreetfashion.com put out the call and students from Toronto's fashion colleges applied to be Ms. Sonja Andic's fashion assistant during fashion week. Entrants didn't know exactly what the position entailed, but were willing to carry bags, take notes and run errands for the chance to insider schmooze and experience fashion week... Winner Melissa Kavalench, 3rd year Ryerson fashion communication student understands the Toronto street fashion sensibility. She's funny, self-effacing and proactive! Here's her view: DAY 3: Global Warming Diversion, SD+R and Lessons Learned by Melissa Kavalench March 16, 2007 So today is the big finale of this surreal experience. I think because it’s the last day and I’m a smidge sad, I have no fight left and I raise the style white flag. I decide on a pair of black pants I’ve had since the first time tapered jeans were cool, and a 50s style jacket. My feet are starting to look (and feel) like they were some dog’s chew toy, but my flats are still the most reasonable shoes to wear for standing. I think I’ll just make best friends with band-aids and keep my fingers crossed. I arrive at Liberty Grand and meet up with Sonja only to find that a whole bunch of shows have been switched around because of some seriously juicy gossipy reason…that I unfortunately missed. So we jet off to a screening of a global warming documentary by George Browne who works for Canwest. Apparently it’s at some super exclusive club on King and Portland that you normally can’t even get into unless you are a member. Lucky for me, today is an exception. So we get to this club and they have to buzz us inside! We end up hanging out in a room which looks like a converted art gallery with all these amazing natural free-standing sculptures. I can’t shake this feeling that I’m crashing this hip party and I keep waiting for my mom to show up and snap at me “don’t touch that!” Before I know it I’m conversing with Catherine, the VP of marketing of Canwest (Please note “conversing” in this instance actually means “standing there dumbfounded while intellectual conversation takes place around me”). The documentary is deep and moving, it’s kind of a weird, but nice, break in the fashion week scene. All this talk of global warming makes me feel so overwhelmed. I want to do something but at the same time I feel so small and incapable of making a difference. Suddenly I’m having too many deep thoughts. Shake it off, shake it off. There is still much work to be done tonight. To get ready for this serious work I go with the TSF women to Fionn McCools on King for a little bit of social lubrication. This is the point that I feel that I must share with everyone else all the great things I’ve learned this week: Why not ask? The worst thing they can say is “no,” but most of the time they say “yes.” Act like you belong there, never let them see any break in confidence and when they question you, act shocked that they would question you. Know your industry, know the people in it and talk to these people, no matter how uncomfortable it is. If it has white furry spots on it, not matter how small they seem, just don’t eat it (not really related but a valuable lesson nonetheless) Finally the last stop on my whirl-wind tour takes me to the Phoenix (a familiar stomping ground but I keep this detail quiet to save my dignity). It’s the SD'nR party and as the show starts I realize it is by far my favorite show I’ve seen. It’s so edgy and rock and roll and exactly the way I would love to dress in a perfect world. Speaking of a perfect world, the Fashion Channel's Glen Baxter is suddenly standing to the right of me. Sonja is talking me up to him (have I mentioned how amazing she is?) and so then I take over and start talking to him. A random photographer is taking our picture and this is the best night ever. Before I know it it’s 12:30 and I’m walking out the door, back into my normal life. In hindsight this was an amazing learning experience for me, no matter how “after-school special” that sounds. Sonja and Rachel and all the TSF team were just so great. The remainder of the fashion crowd was a lot nicer than I imagined them to be and so all those hours of practicing intimidating faces in the mirror were a complete waste of my time (“Are you talking to me?...Are YOU…talking to ME?”) But this isn’t the end, it can’t be the end. Let’s use some really cheesy cliché like “It’s only the beginning.” I’ve got the bug and I’m going to arm myself with all these great lessons I’ve learned and run head first into the fashion trenches. >> back to DAY 1: Wardrobe Woes >> back to DAY 2: Courage and Jeanne!