I attended New York Fashion Week for the first time this year. When I thought of fashion week in the past, I always thought it was elite and probably pretentious. I saw that many bloggers have attended, but as I only started blogging a few months ago and I’m not a fashion blogger, I didn’t think it was the space for me. However, this year two different brands reached out to me requesting I attend their events! Brands typically invite bloggers or influencers to fashion week events to share content on the events.

I kicked off the first day of fashion week with a pop up and jewelry event with two NJ bloggers, Nicole and Edyineth. The first event was the the Shein pop up in Soho. They had neon lights, Photo booths, a DJ and an arrange of clothes and shoes for sale. This event was open to the public but I saw on social media that there were long lines most days. We went Friday night and thankfully there wasn’t a line.

Afterwards, we went to the Midori Linea event in the penthouse of the James Hotel in Nomad which was an “invite only” event we all were invited to. It was a fun event showcasing the brands beautiful jewelry but it also felt a lot like a party. There was a DJ, champagne flowing, and even a beauty bar with artists to do hair and makeup. We ran into even more NJ bloggers and mingled and took photos.

The following day, my best friend and I decided last minute that we wanted to go to some Fashion Week events. We had nothing planned so I quickly looked on Event Brite and saw there was a fashion show for a smaller brand which was open to the public and tickets were $40. We decided to get the tickets for later that evening. I then checked Instagram and saw Shop Bop had a pop up and was doing a free event with Good American which I registered us for.

We got to the city and went to the Shop Bop event first which had free rose and snacks. We shopped a little bit and then the Good American event started where the CEO spoke and we got to shop with her. We had one too many roses and completely missed our next event which was the fashion show but still had tons of fun!

My last event was the Ontavia Roulette fashion show. This brand reached out to me and invited to me their show so I was super excited to attend. When I got there, I noticed a lot of the audience was dressed very uniquely which made me really feel like I was at fashion week. The show was an absolutely beautiful performance but was over rather quickly.It was an inclusive show with many different ethnicities represented which was refreshing.

Overall, I had a great first fashion week experience. I learned that fashion week is literally whatever you make it, it is not just lavish parties and runway shows. I saw bloggers coming from out of town specifically for fashion week and assumed they were going to elite events but actually went to events that were open to the public.

Obviously, the more known you are, the more invites you will get to events. However, if you aren’t a blogger or influencer, there are tons of FREE, really fun events that are open to everyone. If you want to attend a New York fashion week event but weren’t specifically invited to any, I’d suggest the following:

1. Search New York fashion week events on Eventbrite. When I searched, they had tons of events including tickets to fashion shows on there. Some events were free and some fashion show tickets were $50-$100.
2. Follow more brands on social media and the #nyfw hashtag a few weeks before fashion week starts. More and more brands are having pop up events or shops for fashion week and they announce them on their social media and use that hashtag. Most of their events are free. If they have an invite only event and you really like the brand, there’s nothing wrong with reaching out to them and asking if you can attend. You won’t know until you ask.
3. Lastly, if all else fails, just walk around the city and shop, especially in Soho. I know a few people who just stumbled upon fashion week events just by going into different stores. A lot of these events are free with free drinks and food.

Fashion is slowly becoming more and more inclusive. There are tons of events that everyone can attend!

Xoxo,

Finding Francesca