Get to know the dames you’ll be dealing with as New York Fashion Week kicks off.
The Bloggerati
Most popular members: Bryanboy, Tavi, Garance Doré, Jak & JIl’s Tommy Ton, Hanneli Mustaparta
Key traits: A fun-loving crew, the bloggers are like one big group of friends rather than competitors. They’re the ones who are actually smiling and having fun at the shows, partly because they’re just happy to be there.
Where to spot them: On the street waiting for a show to end or in the front row.
Tribes-within-a-tribe: The street-style bloggers, who take pictures of others, versus the personal-style bloggers, who take pictures of themselves.
The Editrixes
Most popular members: Anna Wintour, Franca Sozzani, Suzy Menkes, Cathy Horyn, Robin Givhan, Anna dello Russo
Key traits: The designers set the trends, but these powerful women influence whether or not everyday shoppers will buy them.
Where to spot them: Sitting expressionless at the centre of the front row, usually being interviewed, videotaped and photographed by a throng of reporters and cameramen.
Tribes-within-a-tribe: The magazine editors wield a different kind of power from the newspaper writers, and there isn’t a whole lot of mixing between the two. The monthlies tend to influence the fashion industry as a whole, while the dailies impact public opinion.
The Runway Stars
Most popular members: Freja Beha Erichsen, Karlie Kloss, Joan Smalls, Rose Cordero and Lindsey Wixson.
Key traits: They’re the impossibly tall, leggy peripatetic creatures travelling in twos and threes between shows with their runway hair and makeup still on.
Where to spot them: Running out of the backstage entrance at any show venue into a waiting taxi or chauffeured car.
Tribes-within-a-tribe: There are the girls of the moment (the models who walk in every show and star in the big ad campaigns like Freja, Karlie and Joan) and then there are the new arrivals, the young, new-on-the-scene girls who are hoping to get there.
The Retail Queens
Most popular members: Net-A-Porter’s Natalie Massenet, Lane Crawford’s Sarah Rutson, Liberty of London’s Yasmin Sewell and Harrods’ Marigay McKee
Key traits: They usually have the nicest chauffeured cars and most of-the-moment accessories.
Where to spot them: Heading into a show with a trail of street style photographers hot on their embellished, colour-blocked designer heels.
Tribes-within-a-tribe: The fashion directors of brick-and-mortar shops have always commanded the most attention. But these days, the women and men behind e-commerce sites, such as Net-A-Porter and ASOS, are becoming more high-profile.
The Publicists
Most popular members: Karla Otto, BPCM’s Vanessa Bismarck and People’s Revolution’s Kelly Cutrone
Key traits: A clipboard in hand, an earphone cord around the neck and an extremely low tolerance for bollocks.
Where to spot them: Cutting that gate crasher down to size.
Tribes-within-a-tribe: Fashion publicists the world over are a tough breed, but the New York tribe is especially scary.
