Staying Composed on the Fashion Runway

Staying Composed on the Runway; & Seattle Fashion Week 2010!

I was at Seattle Fashion Week at the WAMU Theater in Seattle yesterday, May 15th, 2010. The designers there were IDCW, House of Versatile, B’zma, Vera Wang, Richard Blayne, Eva Chen, and Catalin Botezatu. I was modeling for B’zma. There are pictures of all the designers’ work here: http://www.allklier.com/clients/FSW2010_Intl/ (photos by Jan Klier).

Many modeling events and fashion shows are all day productions. I arrived promptly at 8:45am and left the Seattle Fashion Week event at 10:30pm. It was an amazing opportunity for fashion models, fashion designers, MUA’s (makeup artists), hair stylists, and much more. There was press from all over, including Seattle Pi. There weas amazing hair, makeup, dresses and crazy outfits. There were people, lots and lots of people.

Fashion modeling is all about the people, the networking. This fashion event was definitely worth the 14 hours of practice, changing, waiting, hair and makeup, and walking (the whole day was just one big, fun adventure!). I met so many great people there and reconnected with others. It was also pretty cool that I got to see Florin, from Go Periscope there. Also Apolo Ohno, the Olympic skater was there for the show, which was a pretty big deal for everyone. It was simply amazing day with amazing people with a whole lot going on. I had a blast and I was completely in my element. I have some pictures in my Facebook Seattle Fashion Week 2010 album for those who want to see them. (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=21150&id=111696388842428).

So obviously, there WERE a lot of people, which leads me to my next point: nerves. There were models there of all different experience levels. Some had never been in a fashion show before, with hundreds of people watching, and some had been in way too many to count.

An experienced model and friend of mine doesn’t get nervous; she meditates. She decided to meditate before the fashion show and her walk on the fashion runway. She seemed extremely calm and serene, and stone-still. It was very calming for me. There are different ways to channel the nervous energy so it doesn’t affect performance on the runway, which depends on what works best for you. It could mean doing something with your hands, to get your energy moving and take your mind somewhere else. Or it could mean dancing to the beat of the bass, which also takes your minds off things.

Runway music at fashion events is amazing. I love the upbeat pumping rhythms. I danced just before walking the runway. Actually, I danced all day to keep the energy level high.

If you find yourself getting nervous when you have to walk the runway, don’t sweat it! There is really nothing to get nervous about. When you’re done, you may reflect on how well you did. You may think that it was a total blast and wonder why in the world you got nervous in the first place. It’s really the same exact thing as rehearsing the runway; only, people are watching you strut your stuff when it’s the real deal. That’s the only difference: you have an audience to see how amazing you are.

The fashion runway is your time to shine.

Thanks for reading!

Briauna Mariah