Fashion Week, Day One: Yuck! What's Really Going On Under Those Tents?

Get the behind-the-scenes scoop during New York's fashion extravaganza!

By Marianne Garvey Sep 08, 2011 9:20 PMTags
Lincoln Center, BCBG Max Azria  ModelAndrew H. Walker/Getty Images; Thomas Concordia/WireImage

New York's Fashion Week at Lincoln Center certainly appears to be all glitz and glam—models, runway shows, celebrities (hello, Vanessa Hudgens, Sophia Bush and Rachel Zoe!) and of course, the fabulous clothes.

But behind the scenes, there's all the grit and grime, the hard work and the elbow grease that makes the operation appear to run smoothly.

And then there's the even grimier stuff—we're talking toilets, thieves and hundreds of sweaty bodies stuffed into one steaming room.

Not so glamorous, right?

With the eight-day fashion fest kicking off early this morning, you'd think it would be running like a well-oiled machine. But with heavy rains soaking the Big Apple last night, workers were still pounding nails into the stairs outside the tents today and were spotted making adjustments to the rugs and floor inside. Thankfully, the actual runway stages were ready for some catwalking.

Piled on the tables in one of the sponsored tents are gorgeous, thick fashion-themed coffee table books, many by famed fashion photog Mario Testino, including a book on his portraits and a gorgeous one that is dedicated to pictures of Kate Moss. Pretty to look at, but not for the taking.

"Fashionistas keep trying to clip them," one backstage employee told E! News. "IMG said you better get extra security, they instructed them, 'They are going to be gone!' So now there are security guys hanging around watching a pile of books. Hasn't stopped anyone from trying to walk off with them, though."

Then there is the case of the bathrooms.

With such fancy fashion snobs and celebrities running around, you're guaranteed to get many complaints when it comes to the less-than-stellar portable toilets. With long days and so much free bottled water available, it's no wonder everyone's got to hit them at some point. Problem is, they're pretty gross. Need we say more?

Lastly, there are the complaints over the lack of air conditioning at some shows. We definitely noticed the lack of circulation at the Supima show, where attendees were fanning themselves with their programs and seen dashing out quickly after it wrapped for some air.

Let's hope day two kicks off a little more smoothly.