Anyone with an interest in fashion, energy and the right attitude can volunteer, they hold a casting a month prior to the event to meet everyone and figure who would be best suited to which roles. I was a backstage dresser this year but there are also usher and production roles available; it takes a massive team of over 300 volunteers to help the fulltime fashion week team put the event on.
My role was all about working backstage dressing the models for the shows which was great. The best thing about it is you get to see the not yet released clothes up close before anyone else does and meet the designers and stylists for each label you are working for. It is a bit of a high pressure situation backstage though, as the designers and stylists are usually rather nervous (it is their livelihood going out on the catwalk in front of hundreds of fashion people after all) and the changes of outfits for the models have to be done very quickly and are sometimes quite tricky. When you arrive backstage for each show you sign in and are assigned a model and a rack with all your garments on it; you are then responsible for it and the model until you sign out. Dressing is pretty straight forward although there is nothing like a stuck zip or a broken shoe to keep things interesting backstage! If you’re not fazed by a bit of stress it is still a lot of fun, just being there amongst the buzz of Fashion Week is fantastic and the people watching (or outfit watching) is by far the best of any event in the country!
I also met some really lovely people at Fashion Week and all the girls on my team of dressers (there are six backstage teams) were great to work with. As a volunteer you are pretty well looked after, you work in shifts so you don’t have to be there all day every day.
One of my favourite shows that I worked on would have to be Chelsea Thorpe – her collection was just divine, a beautiful array of incredible detailed pieces in gorgeous colours and fabrics, I wanted every last piece! I also loved Twentysevennames and Stitch Ministry which I worked on earlier in the week, and Carlson and Lucie Boshier from the weekend.
All and all I loved my experience volunteering at Fashion Week and I would encourage anyone who has an interest in fashion or wants to make it a future career to volunteer. You can submit your details through the Fashion Week website from July next year at
www.nzfashionweek.com and who knows, next year it might be you backstage getting to meet and work with New Zealand’s best designers!
Style note – The shoes above are the exact shoes worn in the Chelsea Thorpe show that looked so stunning with her collection. They are Waiger by Wild Pair and retail for $149.95. I love these shoes and admired them so much at the show that I just had to buy a pair of my own! Now all I need is an amazing Chelsea Thorpe dress to wear with them!
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