NYFW: DAY ONE
February 12th 2026
This was my second year being a part of New York Fashion Week. On the first day, I worked with Carolina Herrera and Michael Kors which were both absolute banger of shows. I had the pleasure of working with the VIP Artists for Carolina Herrera which included incredible painters, contemporary artists, and photographers who have literally shaped fashion and the culture within the industry.
My call time for Carolina Herrera was 7:00AM for shoe rehearsal. (If you’re curious about how runway schedules work, I’ll break that down in a separate post.) One thing about NYFW: you walk into each event with almost no information, just a call time and maybe the name of your on-site contact. For this show, I had absolutely nothing beyond that. The night before, my call time was moved from 7:30AM to 7:00AM. That’s fashion, babe.
I arrived at the venue in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District and didn’t recognize anyone from last fall. The space itself was stunning with tall industrial ceilings, an eclectic mix of guest seating, and beautifully painted patchwork walls. It was refined and raw and everything that Herrera stands for.
I made my way downstairs to hair and makeup, grabbed a coffee, and waited for roll call. Around 7:15AM we were called up to dressing, where I was surprisingly placed in the VIP Artist room alongside four far more experienced dressers who were incredibly kind and helpful. The looks were incredible. We carefully adjusted every detail, how each button needed to be secured, which angle the collar sat best, how the garment fell under stage lighting.
At one point, we looked up the VIP artists’ Instagram accounts and realized these people are seriously embedded in NYC / American culture - literally creatives who have painted live portraits of the Obamas during their presidency.
Our models came in last from hair and makeup, and we dressed them quickly before sending them out. A lot of dressing is actually waiting, waiting for models to return from press moments, backstage interviews, quick shoots with Vogue, or last-minute touch-ups. Then suddenly it’s all movement again. In about 30 minutes our models were back. We undressed them, carefully packed the looks, and the room shifted back to normal. The best part of working VIP? They never eat or drink, but have the best food. We were sent home with Blank Street matchas and enough pastries to last a week.
I had about two hours before my next call time and went back to the hotel to reset, catch up on work, and eat something that wasn’t sugar and dough.
Next up: Michael Kors at the Metropolitan Opera House in the Upper West Side.
Call time was at 2:30PM which felt insane because the show didn't start until 6PM. I’m a notoriously early person other than an apple and double shot of espresso I was not ready to hang out for 3 hours before the show like I did.
Walking into The Met Opera for a runway show is surreal. When I arrived, they were shooting celebrity arrivals and capturing empty-space content for socials. After a short wait, we were allowed upstairs to dressing. I ran into familiar faces, some I had met the previous year while dressing for LoveShackFancy, and caught up.
This show moved at a slower pace than Herrera. Longer gaps between look changes. More backstage photography. It felt cinematic and was clearly directed with intentionality. It was so good. We stayed in the dressing room for most of the show. There were probably 60 people in the space, dressers, stylists, production, and even Kors himself.
After a day like that, I was buzzing. Exhausted, but wired. That particular adrenaline that makes it impossible to fully wind down. I went back to the hotel, changed, and slipped down the street for ramen replaying the day in my head. How unreal it felt and how I can make everyday feel like that.
Day one complete.
On to the next.
