春休み最中のジョーホー
i had one invitation from alicia who interns at harpers bazaarJ for theatre products which was the first show of the week, but none others. i went there by myself and was immediately escorted to front row. i tried not to show my shock or excitement... i mean, harpers bazaar is HUGE but still...it was my first time in front row ever!! i sit down, and immediately i hear "misha...?" and i look over and martin is sitting two people down from me(the fashion writer who asked me to help him this week..although he never contacted me about *what* he wanted me to do). and the japanese guy sitting inbetween us is fiddling with a fancy camera and sees me and is like 'oh! hisashiburi...'...and i'm like ..i remember this guy...i think...but not really... so the show starts and they show mens, and then they show womens, and i have my little notepad and digi camera like a good little editor making notes all over the place. after the show, i stay with martin and this other guy and im about to leave when we get caught up in the line for the mercibeaucoup show and the japanese guy grabs me and is like...'just get in line!' so they ask me for an invite and i'm like..'i'm with him'..and they let me in...(!!) we sit down and the assistant editor of dazed &confused japan sits down next to us and Mr. Anonymous introduces me as 'misha, the most beautiful girl'...and i'm freaking out because i'm exchanging card with the assistant editor of D&C and im getting really curious as to who this guy im with is.
the mercibeaucoup show was TERRIBLE and its no wonder because the old designer of frapbois utsugi eri was doing it, and it was way over the top and ANNOYING (they had the models carrying pushbrooms sweeping up confetti... i was getting a major headache) . i went home and came back to see SATORU TANAKA because martin had given me an invite and i see mr. anonymous there again... so this time, i'm like ...'are you a photographer?'...he laughs, and says he only is this week, 'so did you come with a magazine?' ...'yes'...which one? 'dazed&confused'.... so i'm like ohhhhh...he must be a freelancer or something?! after that show i go with him to see tei johjima's presentation (which was EXCELLENT! besides the fact that it was held in the shower room of the gaien stadium, it was nice bright colors on impeccably tailored clothes). after that we had 3 hours to kill before the mintdesigns show so we decided to get something to eat. we go to this organic pasta place, and we're talking about lots of stuff...mainly relationships... and finally it comes out that mr. anonymous had started his own business after his fiance dumped him 5 years ago...and i'm like.... 'what's your business??' and he says he OWNS the publication company that produces both dazed & confused and NYLON in japan! i almost died!! and THEN i remembered meeting him last august at a small launching of a t-shirt brand when i was still friends with saera the photographer. he was all sitting on a stool looking kind of erai and bored and when he gave saera and i his cards she freaked out and immediately went into blahblahblah mode so i never talked to him... i can't believe he remembered me?!?!?
after mintdesigns i took a cab with martin and yashi (what i call him) to ebisu and as were leaving, yashi makes me give him a hug ??? ok, i can dig it, i think.
sunday was a break day and i forgoed the jeans and theory shows, and intead went to lilith on monday instead. i didnt have an invitation in my hand, but i was on martin's invite since he wasn't coming, and i told them this in english and they couldn't really understand me, but all i needed to say was 'press' and they took me to the front row again! *dies* ...at this rate i'm gonna get too used to this front row stuff! ana nocon (international model) was in the show, and i have to admit it was slightly exciting to see a show with a top model in it. later that day i went to astroboy in harajuku at QUESThall without an invite and i see yashi sitting waiting for martin. i go up with them and i literally *walk* right in without them even seeing me! we sit second row and watch an AMAZING avantgarde show with hair made into masks on the models, and clothes that reminded me of jellyfish (but not slimy). later that night was ATO which i was determined to get into but i had no invite. so i get there early and call martin to see if he was making it and he says no, even though he said by email we could go together...damndamndamn.... so i tell the staff people that i'm here in place of martin who couldnt make it and the staff guy is like 'oh! right! his wife just had a baby! how is he?' ...and i'm like...'he's good'...totally shocked how EVERYONE knows martin. well, they let me in and its totally PACKED and i see taraman w/ his GF and hiro so i sit with them and watch a pretty disappointing women's but pretty good men's show.
tuesday and wednesday i chilled... didnt feel like going... having no invites and trying to talk your way in is really mentally exhausting. instead i had 3 uchiawase (meetings) with a photog and makeup artist who is working with me on a big photoshoot next saturday.
thursday, i get a call from martin who wants me to contribute to a piece he was writing for the japantimes on the fashion week... but he needed a picture and i didnt have one (he quoted me and my disappointment in the week and printed my photo as a 'fashionista' hehehe). so i went to ritsuko shirahama in the morning and dropped them the meishi i made of martin's website which conveys me as a freelance journalist...kind of, i guess. i sit scond row even though they tried to *move* me to first row. i didnt want to because most of the guests were older women and i was worried of what kind of show i would be seeing. it was ok, ana nocon was in it again, and while some of it was cool, it was a TOTAL ripoff of balenciaga's current winter collection.
after that, even though i would have liked to have gotten to see some more shows, i was on a mission: BUY A FORMAL DRESS. i was going to a really HUGE party that night that Lancome was throwing in anniversary of their new "IT" girl, daria werbowy (a supermodel, for those who may not be in the know). so i needed something smashing and gorgeous and was ready to drop 500 bucks on something FANTASTIC. so i searched high and lo, ALL over harajuku/omotesando/aoyama and find NOTHING. perhaps if i could have afforded dior or dolce and gabbana or something i may have found a dress, but i could find NOTHING i could afford. disappointed, i screwed it and bought a belt and casual retro onepiece for $350
so i get all dolled up, wearing some nice pants and tramando halter with lace shawl feeling a little scrubby and made my way to the ueno national museum and there are limos and shit all over the place and i walk right up (not even in a cab...^^;;;) so i give them my invite that Zan had given me (her company plans big parties like this) and i walk in, and my breath is nearly taken away: there was a huge glass pool with purple low lights casting shadows on willows overlooking it... a superlong walkway covered in stagelights going over the pool to a huge glass building filled with partygoers. i start to step onto the walkway when i woman stops me and says i cant yet because the paparazzi are taking pics of some celebrity who had just shown up. geez. so i go into the party and see Zan running around like a headless chicken, but Liv hadn't shown up yet. i chat with some guys i know, with Zan's sister, and finally they do introductions for daria who is freaking *19* and so bleeping gorgeous... and all the women in the crowd are like 'kawaii!!!' ... daria looked quite perplexed. so then we are treated to a show by CERO...(otherwise known as Cyril...the half american/japanese magician you see on TV all the time). he did some AMAZING things that freaked me out and then all these rose petals fell from the ceiling... it was way too beautiful. and then, i looked over and noticed my friend tomu was talking with none other than Don Konishi!!! tomu introduces us, and some lancome people come around with lipstick to try and don konishi picks some up and puts it on me...i dont know if thats really cool or really weird?!? so finally liv and her BF show up and our friend uran sings some songs from her new album (a super cool jazz album! called tokyo j'z trippin if anyone is into jazz!). after her performance, the paparazzi are going mad over liv and i and uran... they even asked me to pose!! i'm like...'im not famous like these two, but sure!!' now i gotta check all of the womens mags and WWD for my pic :D after the party, liv and her BF and i went to check out an art exhibition and get some wine and take our last train home (i cant imagine paying for a taxi all the way from asakusa (*dies*) . it was quite an eventful evening!!!!!CRAZY!
friday was the last day of fashion week, and i get there to see the first show, taishi nobukuni... i try to talk my way in like i usually do, and finally drop martin's name like 'he can't come'... and the people are like...'martin's already here, yo!'... i'm like oh shit.... hahaha... i got in fine, though and sit behind martin second row. the show was kickass, it was religious and ethnically themed ("we are all equal" or some trite) and had indians in mowhawks, jewish punks, and even an osama bin laden which kinda freaked me out. they all had animals, too... huskies, dalmations, baby goats, even a hawk!! pretty cool shit.
later, i went to hiroko koshino on martin's ticket and then to GVGV... it wasnt in the tents, but rather inside the stadium. i didnt have an invite but was gonna become 'martin' like i usually do, but this time, they stuck me in "standing"!! i just kept telling myself..'im noone special anyway...i should just be glad to be here....',, but i was a little irked... DONT THEY KNOW WHO I AM?! or i guess, who i'll be,... but really, it was just pretty damn cold and my feet hurt. it took forever to get everyone in becuase they did it ONE BY ONE and there were sooooo many people there. the runway was sooo cool though... it was SUPER long and black with these little diamond things thrown all over it which sparkled to high heaven. i stood near the front of the stage and watched lots of bubble skirts with polkadots, and some of the most AMAZING shoes i have ever seen come down the runway.
i had seen taraman and anthony (self-proclaimed "top drag queen in japan-cum fashion designer") walk in so afterward i find them and go to dinner with them and their crew ( incl james and martine). we didnt have much time to eat because we were gonna try to get in to the BIG show...the last of the week...DRESSCAMP and it was scheduled to start at 9:30 so we wanted to get there at 9. we get there, and there are soooooooooooo many people lined up outside and the dresscamp people are handing out moet champagne and on the blowhorns "ANYONE WITHOUT AN INVITATION, DONT EVEN TRY TO GET IN!" and were all like...hmmm... well, the only one with a legit invite is james. so i call martin and im like... ARE YOU COMING??! and he says ..'no'. im like *@#(&!*&%^$#!! but he gives me his seat number. .... there are SEAT numbers!! so i get to use his seat number and i look at the map and its SECOND ROW!! scond row! and at the end of the freaking runway!!! its like the hottest seat ever!!! we dont get in til an HOUR late but i had NO problem getting in...they never even asked...people were pushing from behind. even taraman got in without an invite although he had no seat so he had to stand. i sat down in my 'seat' and i look over and its none other than SUZY MENKES... she's only THE most well-known fashion journalist in the WORLD..!! i knew she she was there because i had seen her walk right past me on monday, but i was told she had gone home. EVERYONE was taking her picture...she was sitting with some older japanese woman i didnt recognize. i got up and shook her hand and thanked her for coming to japan fashion week and she said she was having fun, and she let me take her picture. as for other celebs, i saw top japanese model RILA and the actor narimiya hiroki across from me. the show finally starts and it is SO over the top, semi-couture with proper, tall, beautiful models, great makeup, and horrible trashy clothes (made out of pure mink, mind you). it was like watching a christian dior or other galliano show. it was SO AMAZING!! like the only true fashion show out of japan fashion week!
we all came out of the show on a total high and decided to go with anthony to crash the afterparty. so we walked to the bar "stair" first, but didnt see any kind of a party going on, so we hoofed it in a cab to the other restaurant that dresscamp owns, a three-story mexican place hidden on meiji-doori. we get there and are immediately directed to the bottom floor where they had tons and tons of champagne and catered food. all of us good-looking (ha!) foreigners grabbed a table and were having way too much fun when we realized this party was totally mainly for all the people who actually worked in or on the show. whoops. oh well! i saw ikesue-san who is a photographer friend of mine so i chatted with him forgoing giving aisatsu to the designer since he has no idea who the crap i was and yet i was at his party. hehehe... snagged a ride home in a cab with a manager of SONY so i didnt have to pay for it. score! good thing, too, cuz i didnt have much money!
saturday, i was totally stoked because i was going to a homewarming party for alicia (harpers bazaar) who scored an aprtment 3 minutes from takeshita doori, and then to a DAZED&CONFUSED party at velours. i get to alicia's around 9 in my brand new orange and creme retro dress with gifts of umeshu and its sooo smoky in there from the cigarettes i nearly cant breathe. i notice a girl sitting under and open window in the corner so i make my way there and we end up talking for hours and hours. her name is tamara, a french/british girl who got her picture in the new york times for looking fab in a stapled gucci drycleaning bag after crashing a fashion party in paris. i like her already! so i invite her to the hanami party at SOHOS on thursday. i'll see if i can have a nice girl friend to go to these parties with so i don't always have to go alone.
i left alicia's and stopped off at lee's place who lives behind the christian dior store on omotesando (these people have such great locations!) to pick up taraman but she and her guests were already drunk and playing 'O-sama game'(truth or dare). taraman looked like he wanted to shoot himself. i stayed for one glass of wine and taraman and i booked it out of there and walked alll the way to velours in aoyama. i walk in, and immediately that assistant director of dazed and confused is like, 'can i take your picture??' ..i'm like...sure!! and do a few poses... haha.. i felt so stupid. but i did look fabulous!! i walk into the table area and see yuka-chan (she does press for LEE, edwin, and levis) and we're chillin when yashi finally comes over and motions for us to come with him. so we follow him through the bar and to....TADA! VIP! it was all models, some of them were already passed out and most of them just boys being silly. i met a kid from massachusettes who came here to study but was scouted as a model and is now making a great living off it...which is really cool, cuz he seemed like an acyualy normal guy! diego, the most beautiful boy ever, was all over some other female model, and then RILA and narimiya hiroki waltz in. i swear i see this guy EVERYWHERE. he is like the tara reid of japan... and his face is ALWAYS red. he's actually kinda cute when he's not drunk! so im chatting with this masachusettes guy in the chair when hiroki comes over and PETS my head and nearly sits in my lap and says 'speeeeeeak japaneze preeeeeeeaze!' im like...what da hell!? then yashi tries to get me to sit on his lap and im like..uh-uh... silly men.
before i know it, its 4am and time to go home! but uh-oh, that means i need to take a cab! some random older japanese dude is like..'you can ride in a cab with me!'...and im thinking 'i dont even KNOW you, dude!' so ikesue-san who was there gave me a ride in his two-seater BMW convertible! WHEEEEEEE!
monday and tuesday were spent in sagamiono cleaning my old room and putting in my application for visa renewal. i had 10 bags of garbage from my room. thats a hell of a lot of garbage! i also said good bye to sagamiono... man, i could never leave the yamanote-sen now.
today i slept in til 1:30pm... i coudnt believe it! then i spent all day making a wide-belt for the hanami party tomorrow night. its made of shiny lavender quilted fabric and satin strips i wove in and out of each other. it looks totally kick-ass!! im stoked! then sunday i have like 209881716300 hanami parties. ROCK!
but as for me, im like wow. no, seriously, wow. i don't know how i've been able to get away with all this stuff, considering where i came from. i had NO connections or anything when i first came. i was just a student. i still am. im nobody! its so weird to have people treat me as an equal. if only they knew! ;p