New York Fashion Week, Fall 2008: Nancy Lichtenstein –Backstage at Abaete!

Fall 2008 Fashion Week is my second season, and by now I know enough not to worry about how I look (no one cares if you’re not a model or celebrity), so I put on all black and forgot about it.
My first assignment will be to interview David Cruz, star Redken stylist, and Ayako, Nars makeup artist extraordinaire, backstage at Abaeté. My 9 year old has finally taught me how to use my expensive Sony voice recorder, so I’m ready to go.
My concessions to great style are to bring my “good” bag–a black Louis Vuitton Suhali Fabuleux and if I’m not going to use it at Fashion Week, when will I ever?–and a gorgeous heathered cream MaxMara coat that I got for the insane price of $15 at a house sale last fall. It’s freezing in New York City today and I’ve heard the tents aren’t heated so I have to keep warm, but the wool is a must as there are usually fur protesters around, and my everyday winter jacket has a real mink collar (which I’m okay with ethically, as it was also bought secondhand, but I don’t want to have to explain that while someone throws blood at me). My hair is horrendous due to the humidity, but I look on the bright side, figuring this is my best chance ever to get a hair genius to tell me what to do about it.
The Abaeté show is in the Salon in Bryant Park, and though I went backstage at Fashion Week last time, the shows where I did this were in alternate venues so I’m curious to see if security will be tighter.
I’m also hoping I’ll get an answer to a question that’s plagued me for years–where does one go to the bathroom inside the tents?
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Abaete Look 1 — courtesy of NY.com and imaxtree.com
I’m a bit nervous when I stand on line at the backstage entrance and the guy in front of me is summarily and disdainfully turned away, but my ego gets a huge boost when the pr people guarding the door find my name on the list and hand me a backstage pass with a smile (smiles from pr people at Fashion Week are a very rare commodity!).
I’ve done my homework on Abaeté so as not to make a fool of myself(–it’s pronounced uh-BYE-uh-TAY,) and is the maiden name of designer Laura Poretsky’s mother.
Poretsky is best known for having collaborated with Payless Shoes on a line of chic yet inexpensive designer shoes, but she has a high end clothing line sold in fine department stores and boutiques around the country and online at www.abaete.com.


She’s a New Yorker who is said to draw extensively on her Brazilian family background for inspiration, so I’m kind of expecting a beachy look with long, wavy hair reminiscent of Giselle. It turns out I couldn’t be more wrong about this. But first, David Cruz is busy with other reporters, so I satisfy my curiosity about the bathrooms and other backstage trivia.
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Abaete look #8
It turns out the bathrooms inside the tents are extra-large, fancy Porta-Pottys! Since most of the people at Fashion Week are rail thin, if you fit that profile you could bring a friend in with you to hold your purse. They have working flush toilets AND sinks with running water, which really impresses me, and they’re more or less clean, although it’s only the second day and I’m not sure how they’re going to look by the end of the week.
The models at this show are slightly older than other shows I’ve been at; they’re still really young, of course, but there are no chaperones in evidence so they may be at least technically adults. There’s a nice spread of healthy food and Evian water, and many of them actually eat heartily (although for all I know those carrots and grapes could have been the first thing they’ve touched all week). Seriously, though, to my untrained eyes, most of them look like they’re genetically blessed with tall and slender genes, although there are a couple that are so gaunt they worry me.
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Abaete look # 14
Interestingly, most of their faces look very much alike and the ones I hear talk all have Eastern European accents–they’re baby Paulina Porizkovas, gorgeous but interchangeable. They look like they’re having fun, though, so the mom in me can relax and concentrate on the hair and makeup.
Next–David Cruz of Redken Shares His Vision: Strong, Powerful Hair for Strong, Powerful Women
Nancy Lichtenstein is a fabulous writer who covers fashion and beauty and LA-Story.com thanks her for her contributions!!
Stevie Wilson

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One thought on “New York Fashion Week, Fall 2008: Nancy Lichtenstein –Backstage at Abaete!

  1. Thanks for making sense out of Fashion Week. I enjoy your reporting backstage details about the styles and models who wear them. Makes me feel comfortable about chosing a fashionable wardrobe, even though I don’t have a fashion figure.

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