Best Weekend Ever

October 28, 2006
New York City; It was the experience of a lifetime. The first annual Teen Vogue Fashion University; basically a dream conference for young fashion fanatics. After sending in an application, and getting accepted, I was on my way to New York City for the first time. The weekend started off with a concert by Ok-Go held at one of the most beautiful and unique concert halls I had ever seen. Saturday was the main event - an entire day of meeting designers, editors, and other important corporate people in the fashion world. After checking in, I was sent to the Conde Nast building. Let me say that again, the Conde Nast building! Photography isn't allowed inside the building but it looks identical to the office that Miranda Priestly takes the elevator up everyday to work in the movie The Devil Wears Prada. On the elevator, each floor is labeled by magazine.

I wish I could push a button everyday that said "VOGUE" and be transported to the highest place of fashion possible.

We pressed the Teen Vogue button instead and entered the large glass doors (picture: Whitney and Lauren walking into work on The Hills) and were seated in a conference room. My first stop of the day was with Simon Doonon - Creative Director for Barney's New York (see previous posting). Next, I met with one of the head marketing ladies in charge of, and best friends with G & P from Juicy Couture. She talked about pulling samples for celebrities and a little about how Juicy Couture has evolved. After she walked out, in walked Teen Vogue Editor-in-Chief, Amy Astley followed by fashion designer Thakoon Panichgul, 2007 CFDA Award Nominee. His presentation was on the inspiration for his upcoming Spring 07 collection.

That was just the first half of my day....

I was then set loose for a lunch break. In the heart of Times Square, I independently walked across the street to a little cafe where I enjoyed a sandwich. Pure bliss. How do you make an aspiring high school student feel important?

Stick her in the middle of New York City with a schedule of appointments for the day that reads "2:00 Tiffany, 3:00 Tim Gunn".

The Tiffany presentation was an insight into the world of diamonds. What girl doesn't love that? At the end, we were each given our own silver Tiffany heart pendant necklace. Juicy Couture gave us socks (which I then lost). The final presentation of the day was keynote speaker, Tim Gunn - mentor on the popular fashion reality show Project Runway and (at the time) Director of Admissions for Parsons School of Design. He talked about what it takes to get into fashion school and the kinds of things college recruiters are looking for. As the Teen Vogue portion of the day came to an end, my mom and I decided to go on a hunt in the garment district for Mood - the fashion fabric mecca used by the designers in Project Runway. Utterly overwhelming I think is the only word to describe Mood. We walked away with a yard or so of a suede/fur mixture by Roberto Cavalli.

The last stop of the day was a nice stroll through Bryant Park - home of "the tents" for New York Fashion Week. On Sunday, Teen Vogue ended the weekend with a fashion show at Bloomingdale's and then presented us with our graduation certificates. A few footprints were left in New York that weekend, and I hope to return soon to make some more.

Look for applications for Teen Vogue University 2009 in August.