Waiting in line, there were some people there who had gotten tickets on MySpace. They apparently listed Daniel Franco as a friend & he contacted them & offered them tickets. (Two girls came all the way from Texas just to see his show.) But when it was time to go in, those of us from BPR & the press got to go in first because we had assigned seats.
Inside the music was very loud & there were corporate sponsors set up around the walls: Nikon, Mercury, Lens Crafters & a few more. And lots of press, both print & electronic set up at the end of the runway. I checked out my assigned seat- GREAT location (more on why later), but then walked around. I saw Chloe & Diana, there together, and said hello. We chatted for a couple of minutes. They were very nice. I have to say that Chloe is stunningly beautiful. Very delicate features and very tiny.
I sat down for a while and then saw Tim Gunn. (I could hear people around the room whispering "there's Tim Gunn, there's Tim Gunn, there's Tim Gunn"). I thought, should I dare try to approach him to say something? What would I say? There were press and autograph seekers around him (I don't ask for autographs; I'm a New Yorker after all! I just look for a reason to say hello:)) Then I realized I had the perfect reason; I was here with tickets from Blogging Project Runway! So I approached him and said I just wanted to say hi, and that I won my tickets from BPR, and he exuberantly exclaimed loudly, "I LOVE BPR!!!"
I asked him if there was anything he'd like to say to BPR readers, and he said, "I just want to say I'm so proud of Daniel doing this show, and I take back everything I said about him." (laughing) Then went on to say, "And he knows it. We had a nice talk in L.A." I said thanks and moved on, (letting him get back to the throng that wanted to speak with him), and a moment after that Chloe & Diana saw Tim and squealed loudly. Hugs all around.
I went to sit back in my seat (and BTW, I was seated next to 2 other very nice BPR winners), and I saw other PR alum filtering in: Emmett, Marla, Malan & Angela. Angela approached Tim, as he was talking with Emmett, and I saw that they were standing there for a while having a conversation; Tim with his arm around Angela's shoulder, and he gave her a very warm hug when she went back to her seat.
Then the lights went down and the music stopped and out onto the runway walks Daniel Franco. The word that springs to mind is: ADORABLE!!! He was gorgeous. Seriously. And I loved the jacket he was wearing & wondered if he'd made it himself. Anyway, he gave a little talk about his inspiration & Nikon cameras (all the models were carrying little pocket digitals in the show), and talked about their lines, and how the different metals are like the different fabrics, etc. It sounded kind of funny, but when you saw the cameras with the clothes, you got it. Oh, and did I mention that he's ADORABLE?!?
So the show starts and it is the Daniel Franco style that I LOVE; beautifully tailored curved shapes, great jackets (I hope he will let BPR know where the clothes are available). If the jackets had been for sale in the lobby I would have bought one on the spot. Some of the dresses would require my breasts to be much perkier than I could manage, but they were gorgeous nonetheless. If my middle name wasn't
'Entenmann's', I'd be first in line for those dresses & skirts. His are the designs of someone who loves women. That is very obvious.
There were 2 PR models that I recognised: Vincent's model Jia and I think Nazri (who got a big hand from the crowd when she came out & she was the only model to get one). Oh, and why were the seats so great? We were seated opposite all the PR alums, who were in the first row, just opposite us, so we could see them watching the show. Marla was taking pictures. I was trying to read into the faces, but they all looked just like they were just concentrating, though Malan looked like he was in love whenever a model walked out onto the runway.
After the show I made sure I got the chance to say Hi to Angela. When I said I'd won my tickets from BPR, she got all excited (just like she does on the show) and said she sends "lots of love" BPR's way. She is so, so, so nice. I cannot stress that enough. We had a really great conversation for about 5 minutes or so. I'd told her that if I knew she was going to be there I would have worn fleurchons. She laughed & said that lots of very positive things are coming her way because of PR. We talked about the show and her experiences. I told her what I thought & she really confirmed my impressions of what I'd seen on the show. She's a really incredibly, genuinely nice person; and that comes right through when you speak with her. She said she was a bit nervous about the reunion taping because of what she'd seen people say about her, but I told her to keep in mind that there are a lot of people out there who
support her. We spoke about some other things too, and the bottom line is: She's intent on being entirely positive about it all, and I think that with her attitude, great things will come her way.
After that, people were filtering out, and I skated home. I had such a great time! Did I mention that Daniel Franco is adorable? I wouldn't want to forget to mention that. I didn't try to speak with him though because I thought it best that he should use all his time to shmooze the buyers & press that were there. I hope he gets lots of orders. Thank you so much to BPR for giving me the tickets. It was my first
runway show ever & what a show to start with! (Now if only I can find a way to sneak into the tent in Bryant Park on Friday...hmmm...) Thank you again!
Signed,
Your Runway Reporter
DebbieG
P.S.- Sorry I have no pictures to go with my report, but I don't have a digital camera. Ironically, I'm in the market for one & had decided on a Nikon before I attended the show. But I couldn't decide which one of the dozen they have. But at the show, I got to speak with the Nikon rep who gave me the info I needed to decide which one to get. Too bad it wasn't in time for this show, but maybe I'll get another chance in the future. So, good news for Nikon; their sponsorship of Daniel's show sold at least one camera!
