Last week was L’Oréal Fashion Week here in Toronto. A classmate from my Digital Capture 1 photography class suggested that we go check it out so I registered online for an industry pass (even though I don’t work in the industry I figured that I could fudge it) and on Wednesday night I made my way to Nathan Phillips Square for Night 3 of the event. The industry pass cost $50 and could be used all week. It also allowed entry to the photographers’ area, also referred to as “the pit”.

Walking into the registration tent I wondered if the staff would ask me for credentials to prove I was actually in the industry but to my surprise they did not. I even managed to help my classmate Chris get a pass (we claimed that he worked for me) so score! It still cost him $50 and there was a risk that we couldn’t get into the 8pm show because from what we were told, with eight minutes left until the scheduled start, it was packed.

Chris and I entered the main tent and were met with the world of glitz and glamour. Everybody had their game face on. Here you were either somebody or you wanted to be somebody, and it was clearly evident with all the gorgeous and well dressed people walking around. Chris and I sported our cameras and our industry passes around our necks so we easily passed as photographers.

Being our first time at the event we didn’t know where to go to catch the show and see the runway. There was a large congregation of people towards the back of the tent, and we guessed that the runway was nearby but we couldn’t see it. At first it seemed that we had no hope of getting to the front. So we stood at the back of the queue for a good fifteen or so minutes before I noticed some blue lights coming out of a tent in front of us. I pointed Chris to it and suggested that maybe that was where the runway was. The girl next to us then mentioned that with our industry passes we could bypass the queue and go right in! So we did just that.

Once inside the tent there was another form of chaos. The pit was packed full of photographers, industry and media folk with really big lenses and equipment that made our entry level digital SLRs seem like toys. We ended up being on the side of all the photographers and I had the worst spot in the house because I couldn’t see the runway and there was a guy sitting on a corner chair that totally blocked my view. Not happy Jan!

camera zoo

The show started forty minutes late and ran for about twenty minutes. By the end of it my knees were sore and I had to try and balance my camera as well as myself several times, without falling over and creating a domino effect. I could just imagine how funny that would be, well maybe not to the other photographers who were making big bucks from the shoot.

After the show Chris and I walked around in the main tent, met up with his friend Melissa (of Melissa Clemente Designs) and her friend (also a Melissa) who were both promoting MCD’s line of hand made jewellery (some of those pieces were really great) at the show. We took some more photos and then headed off to meet up with another classmate for a late dinner.

The following day Chris and I headed back to the show with two other classmates and this time we had zero hope of catching any shows as it was the final night and we were advised that even industry folks had difficulty getting spots inside the runway tent. So we spent an hour or two walking around the main promotional tent taking pics and trying to capture the world of fashion.

It was definitely an interesting event and we learnt a lot about what to expect at these things. Apparently when summer comes along there are model shows held outdoor at Dundas Square so it will be interesting to catch those.

As to whether or not I’d pursue fashion photography (at events such as this) as a career, right now I’d probably not. I think I’ll stick to lifestyle and studio work.

Here are my pics from the two nights: