Brizo Fashion Week aka Meredith Takes Manhattan!
I'm certain if you follow me on Twitter, you are more than familiar with my tweeting #BrizoFW. That lil Hashtag went and won me front row seats and a little backstage meet & great with the truly talented Jason Wu. More on that in a bit.
Brizo got on my radar late winter this year because of their Fall Fashion Week event where they hosted a different group of designers and design bloggers in NYC. I saw the tweeting and was immediately stricken with FOMO (fear of missing out) googled Brizo and gasp discovered the most beautiful faucets I'd seen in a long while.
Faucets are like jewelry to me. They can make or break an outfit. I abhor anything that has an overt phallic reference. Okay, I should admit that i fixate over this. It's really about proportion and detail to me. I tend to prefer more classic, preppy faucets, am a sucker for a nice cross or bridge faucet but upon checking out the Brizo site, I was surprised to find myself drawn to styles I would never have guessed to strike my fancy.
Brizo positions themselves as a fashion line. What the heck is that you ask? Well it's between entry level and high end luxury brands. If you've followed my coffee table saga, you will know that I'm championing the Middle of the Road in terms of price point. Calling this a Fashion Category, makes it way chic-er than Middle of the Road. I hate mediocrity except when it comes to price point. HA! Let me sum it up for you - fabulous look, amazing quality AND a great price point. Brizo & I definitely had a Jerry MacGuire moment. Definitely.
The Brizo Team however, luxury, high end first class group all the way. They not only set the bar impeccably high in terms of hospitality, planning and organization they are ridiculously nice and good looking. I mean seriously. Gorgeous MUST be a job requirement. Every detail was anticipated and thought out right down to healthy snack options in little take away bags for one of our outings.
My fellow attendees couldn't have been lovelier. Immediate friendships were formed - we've already started planning a reunion. So much fun - so many sick and twisted senses of humour. I'm certain we traumatized the fabulous Brizo folks with some of our banter (read my banter). The Industrial Design team is probably in therapy after presenting the prototypes to our group. Um, can you imagine a group of designers and design bloggers without a strong opinion? Okay so you can imagine a group with an opinion. Well OUR group was like that but on steroids. HIGHLY vocal with very different opinions. I did my part to rally for Polished Brass fixtures but with not too much yellow or green. I also suggested a blush pinky gold but at that point I think smelling salts were ordered for poor Judd - Director of the ID Team. Seth was totally listening to me (or nodding just to make me go away).
We also got a sneak peek at something we aren't allowed to talk about. It's big. You will die. No really. You will. I can't be bribed on this one.
Forgive the horrid lighting... the lovely Brandon et moi at the opening cocktail party at the Eventi Hotel.
Front Row at Jason Wu. Seriously watching all of the last minute prep, arrival of the Fashion Glitteratti (including the girl who plays annoying Rachel on Glee beside us) was almost as much fun as the show itself. This make shift bridge so that people didn't kill themselves on the runway was an endless source of fascination. I mean if you KNOW that the runway is potentially lethal but yet you've got models in stilts about to walk down it.. like I said, it amused me to no end.
It's gauche to arrive early almost as much as it is a crime to arrive after the lights have gone down - Anna Wintour the exception to that rule. I was stunned to find myself in the front row which also meant SWAG! But again, it was worth it just to watch it all come together.
This was not a runway you'd want to trip on - more on that in a second, you see if you did... this lot would capture it all. Zero forgiveness.
You see - THIS was the runway. Plastic Tiles overlaid one on top of the other. Gorgeous to look at but seriously, in flats it would be my worst nightmare. Just wait til you see what they had on their feet.
I hope these girls got hazard pay. The outfits were truly stunning. Great detail. Great colour. In fact, Jason and I are sharing thoughts on two colours for 2012. Cobalt & Citrine. Oh yes. It will be a big year for both. Mark my words.
Majah Fashionista Alert. The Paparazzi were in full force whenever he was around. Bit of a Diva too if you ask me. Justified though, damn cute. So this was just an introduction to Brizo Fashion Week - more faucet eye candy tomorrow.
Oh and as an afterthought... Waiting to go backstage - I was in line with Anna Dello Russo from Vogue Japan. Her outfit was memorable. It was like Gladiator meets the Easter Bunny. Also - unlike most of the people at said show, she was sans face filler, botox or plastic surgery. She owns her lines and proudly.
