How To Get Invited To New York Fashion Week Shows

Last September, I took a trip to New York for fashion week.  This was something I had always wanted to do.  I teamed up with a couple of friends and we planned the trip to go.  I was there for just about a week and honestly by the end of it I was completely exhausted.  Unfortunately, I won’t be making it back for the shows this due to so much travel.  But, if you’re going I want to share how you can get invited to New York fashion week shows.

Anyways, a few invites have been making their way to my inbox and I thought it would be nice to share how to actually get invited to these New York Fashion Week shows.  Here is what I did to score some invites.  Remember, I am a lifestyle blogger from Kansas City, MO who had never been to fashion week.  I did not have any major connections.  Yes, I have been to New York before and well I completely love it there, but I definitely had to do a little work for these invites.

I remember booking my trip just a few weeks before fashion week, I had maybe one or two things on my calendar…yep, you guessed it…I was freaking out!! I was afraid I wasn’t going to hear from anyone and this trip would consist of me standing outside of the fashion week building trying to catch a glimpse of people walking in and out.  Well, that didn’t happen.  The invites come flying in at the last minute.  I had heard that would happen, but was still skeptical.  However, it’s true.  My calendar went from a whole lot of open space to being double booked on some occasions.

So how did I do it?

First, there is a list of all of the shows that are going on.  You can score this on the NYFW website, by ordering it from the press section.  I got a copy of this list and literally emailed every single person on there.  I created a generic email that I customized every time I sent it out.  I told them why I wanted to come to the show and what I planned to do if I was invited.  I shared a little about myself and of course my blog.  If you haven’t met these people in person you really need to sell yourself in this email.  You may even consider creating some sort of document that shares about yourself and includes pictures.  Share your most fashionable ones, of course.

These initial emails helped score some great invites.  I did get a lot of “unfortunately, we can’t fill your request”.  However, when you send out as many as I did a lot of rejections seems to disappear in the mist of the invitations.  Most of the invitations are general invites.  Very rarely will you receive a seat at some of your first shows.  But, it was fine with me.  I didn’t mind standing in the back and some of the shows gave me a seat when it got close to time because they were not filled.  I realized a lot of people RSVP and don’t actually make it to the show, probably the craziness of the events going on.

Which brings me to my next method.  Hang out at Lincoln Center and you just might get invited to a show.  I was walking around the main area where they have all of their sponsors set up, you do need a ticket to get into this section and got invited into a show.  I sat front row in a New York Fashion Show just for being in the right place at the right time.  I didn’t have a ticket to this show, but they wanted to fill it up so I got to sit in the front row of the show and let me tell you something, it was awesome.

The final way I found that you can score these tickets is by making new friends.  I know this seems obvious right.  I met a few people at the shows and one of them happened to be friends with people managing the back stage area.  I was able to get an invite backstage and to the show.  It was really cool to see all of the prepping that goes into it.  Another way this can work is that someone might give you their ticket if they can’t use it.  I left a couple of days before fashion week was over and had been invited to a couple of shows I could not attend.  I gave my tickets to a friend so she could have the chance to experience the shows.

I hope these tips help you score some invites to the New York fashion week shows.  Also, besides just the shows there are a lot of parties and events that go on.  Make sure you reach out to any PR friends you have worked with, tweet brands, facebook stalk them, whatever it takes.  You have to make the right connections and let people know you will be in town so they can invite you.  It is a seriously amazing time.  Even if you only make it to a few shows, it is definitely an experience I would recommend.