An insider’s guide to New York Fashion Week: Where the fashion set dines, sleeps and parties | Canada Voices

From the best postshow tables and midday sanctuaries to essential backstage items, fashion’s top players know a thing or two about surviving the marathon that is fashion week.

New York Fashion Week officially sets the stage for fashion month, and for six days, the city becomes the industry’s epicentre before it decamps for London, Milan and Paris. Behind packed front rows and viral runway moments is a demanding choreography spanning from Manhattan to Brooklyn: Publicists manage fast-paced walk-throughs, editors and stylists race between re-sees to experience collections up close and buyers scout the next wave of emerging design talent.

Navigating the back-to-back presentations demands a survival strategy. We asked industry insiders about their go-to haunts, quiet hideaways and non-negotiable fashion week rituals.

Dining and decompressing

The transition from high-decibel venues to quiet dining rooms is where the real postshow debrief happens. For Morgan Hanson, who recently moved from Toronto to New York to serve as senior manager of public relations at Michael Kors, celebrating the end of a packed show day means heading straight to SoHo. “After the Kors show wraps and the chaos settles, my go-to spots for a proper drink and celebration dinner are Raf’s or Altro Paradiso,” he said.

For buyers running between market appointments to view upcoming collections, stopping to refuel is key. “Bridges is my favourite restaurant in New York right now – the interiors are spectacular and the food is so good,” said Toronto’s Kaelen Haworth, creative director and founder of the clothing boutique Absolutely Fabrics. Haworth also frequents Swan Room at Nine Orchard hotel for postmarket martinis.

Across town, New York-based Mandee Tauber, global principal artist for Oribe Hair Care, escapes the noise at Bar Orai, an intimate, hi-fi listening room in Midtown East. “Vinyl spinning, dim lights and a Japanese highball,” said Tauber. “After a full day of shows, that’s where my brain finally turns off.”

Midday escapes and after-hours culture

If she’s attending shows on the west side, New York stylist and creative director Dione Davis will stop by the Chelsea Hotel. “It’s so chill when you’re overstimulated,” she said.

Equally as crucial as catching your breath between midtown runway presentations and downtown re-sees is knowing where to find late-night energy. Davis’s top event pick of the week is designer Emily Dawn Long’s annual takeover at the Feast of San Gennaro in Nolita, an informal fashion block party hosted during Little Italy’s historic street festival.

Between appointments, Hanson relies on a more exclusive kind of haven: Branch, a private members club overlooking Bryant Park. “It’s my favourite quiet spot to get work done between shows, and the shrimp ceviche served with plantain chips is the perfect easy snack,” he shared.

On-the-go survival secrets

Backstage survival comes down to a tight, uncompromising kit, a bag of supplies and products that stylists and other fashion folk keep on-hand.

“Maximista thickening spray, no question,” Tauber said of her ultimate backstage hero for high-pressure call times. “It’s the one product in my kit that does everything: Volume, texture, sculpting small head shapes. If I could only bring one thing backstage, that’s it.”

For PR leads managing front rows and high-profile guest lists, the most critical survival tool stays locked on their phone screens. “No question, it’s the photo of our runway seating chart in my camera roll,” said Hanson. “If I’m not in the room with the seating board, I’m looking at this multiple times an hour.”

This New York Fashion Week, the most compelling storylines belong to the designers navigating dual creative visions. All eyes are on Henry Zankov, who launched his highly anticipated debut at Diane von Furstenberg Thursday before he switches gears for his namesake label, Zankov. Then there’s Rachel Scott, who helmed Proenza Schouler’s collection and will present the latest from her own critically acclaimed label, Diotima, on Monday.

It promises to be an exciting week, powered by the next generation of designers shaping New York’s evolving landscape.