Day in the life: A fashionista takes on MBFWA 2017
Heather Schmidt
After a lengthy search, Ovolo officially found Australia’s top fashionista with Ms. Heather Schmidt! From runway shows to the afterparties and O-so-comfy stay at Ovolo Woolloomooloo, she details her experience and just what Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia truly means to her…
My first ‘real’ memorable experience of fashion week was ages ago. It was 2002 and I was helping my friend at New York Fashion Week. I was backstage at the Luella Bartley show and tasked with minding a model’s pup so she could practice her walk. This pup was named Vida and she belonged to a young Gisele. Of course this was ages ago – before Victorias Secret and Tom Brady and worldwide fame – she was just starting her career, like me, in fashion.
Once fashion stakes her claws into you, you have little hope of escape. Forever wooing you with beautiful people and beautiful clothing – it’s a seductive black hole that your wallet won’t let you forget. It’s been 16 years of working in the industry and I am just now kicking the habit. I much rather prefer watching the shows as a guest, versus working at them!
Which brings me to present day. I was lucky enough to be a guest of Ovolo at Sydney Fashion Week just last week. I was instantly flooded with memories of my old life in NYC. All ‘Fashion Week’s’ are not created equal, and Sydney is one of the best. Australia, whilst small in population, really is an incubator creative talent. Not only are the Sydney shows a hotbed of designer activity, regularly catapulting local talent, like Dion Lee and Kym Ellery, onto the international scene, but there is a real undercurrent of creativity in the guests and attendees as well. Like the country does in sport, Australia is hitting well above its weight in fashion as well.
One of the unique differences between Sydney Fashion Week and some of the other top weeks is that there is an opportunity for the public to join in. There is nothing more fun than ‘people watching’ at fashion week. Everyone is dressed to impress. Some of the outfits are completely insane and over-the-top whereas others are straight off a catwalk. There is nothing more democratic than fashion for, and by, the masses.
It was a brilliant move on Ovolo’s part to get involved in the action. As one of the top hotel brands in Australia, partnering with one of the top creative events, was a no brainer. Like Fashion Week, Ovolo leads with design and creativity. If you haven’t yet been to one of their properties, do yourself the favour of making a visit, and promptly being blown away by the design of their spaces. They really know how to take what is typically Aussie and add a chic European flair.
Now I was lucky enough to stay in one of their suites for my ‘fashion weekend’. It was the perfect compliment to days spent viewing the world’s top fashion designs on the runway, because I got to spend my nights enveloped in the world’s top interior design! Sitting front row at a Dion Lee fashion show is a high matched only by sleeping in a suite, bigger than my apartment, fit for Calvin Harris. I knew I was living a dream, if only for a weekend, and I loved every second of my imposter life! But the best thing about my weekend is that it can be lived by anyone. You too can book into the Ovolo for a weekend and grab tickets to next year’s fashion week.
Heather Schmidt is a former New York based fashion publicist. Now living in Sydney and working in consulting, she still can’t fight the fashion pull.