New designers vie for attention in NY Fashion Week

NEW YORK - Models wobble, clothes fall off and celebrities don't show up. That's life for new designers at New York's fashion week as they hope to overcome inexperience and compete with industry titans who grab the spotlight.

"I feel like such a baby coming here," said Corrine Grassini, who showed her collection "Society for Rational Dress" at a group show sponsored by Gen Art, an arts and entertainment group that promotes emerging talent.

For Argentinian-born designer Melina Solnicki, being a newer designer meant not luring a celebrity to walk the runway, or for that matter attend, her "Charlotte" show.

"I asked Paris Hilton to do it. She was busy," Solnicki said, adding that some models rushed off to work for a bigger designer and left her without enough to show all her outfits.

Grassini suffered a model shortage because she designs her own shoes and only had seven pairs to go around. So each of just seven models was forced to change clothes two or three times in a hectic backstage scene.

"That's nuts," said Mary Gehlhar, the director of the Fashion Division for Gen Art who has seen her share of young designer mishaps.

In one incident, a designer used a Husky dog on the runway, she recalled. The dog was visibly frightened and slid all over the slippery surface.

"I don't think that designer ever put an animal on a runway again," Gehlhar said.

Some young designers try too hard and use dark, moody clothes with dark, moody music to match, she said. "You've got to think about the people sitting in the audience who are falling asleep," she said.

Shoes can be a show's undoing, whether it's a price tag still stuck on the sole or a model tripping in ill-fitting stiletto heels. This year, during the "Vena Cava" show by young designers Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock, one model visibly shook as she walked in a pair of high gold pumps.

"It was her first show. She was a little nervous," said Buhai.

Clothes don't always cooperate either. Grassini for one had a model whose jacket slipped down her shoulder and threatened to fall off altogether. The model kept on walking.

Luckily no one reported a dreaded wardrobe malfunction.

As young designers struggle, huge names like Oscar de la Renta and Ralph Lauren put on slick shows that attract hordes of celebrities and paparazzi.

This season, Fashion Week opened with designer Kenneth Cole, who had singer Harry Belafonte modeling his clothes, and ends on Friday with entertainer Jennifer Lopez making her debut as a fashion designer.

On average, big-name shows can cost a daunting $100,000 to produce. And they fill the semi-annual fashion week calendar from early morning until late at night, leaving little free time for press and buyers to seek out industry newcomers.

"They really need exposure to get to that next level and just break out of the all the clutter of fashion week, with more than 160 shows going on," said Gehlhar.

Putting on a show during New York's high-profile fashion week pays off, the industry takes notice, Buhai said.

"It's so hard to get exposure and get stores to call you back when they don't know who you are," she said. "We're both only 23. Sometimes it's hard to convince people that you're serious."

- REUTERS