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The music was pumped up dance beats with the word "dream" repeated a lot. The make-up: pretty and glittery with an extra helping of lip-gloss. The hair: slicked back on the head, frizzy at the ends. The accessories: endless. Ladies and gents, welcome to your prom. That’s about all we can say about what went down the runway at QVC show last night. But wait until we tell you about the elevator!
The attendants were escorted into the show via an elevator so large it could double as a cattle cart or a Manhattan apartment. It was tricked out with four Dell laptops to entertain patrons in the five-second ride to the top. Or maybe they were included as a sneaky reminder that runway shows (real ones) will be available for viewing on QVC.com. Regardless, the elevator operator was involved in his own kind of entertainment: "I like surprising the young ladies," he remarked cryptically as the lift jolted upwards.
The doors opened to a warehouse space complete with two runways and plenty of television personalities, including Olivia Palermo, Star Jones, Kelly Bensimon, and Maria Menounos. Those of us who just arrived were asked to stand in a crowded area siphoned off by ropes (did we already make a cattle comparison?). There was no front row – or any of the famed fashion hierarchy at all – but only ushers doing their ushering thing whenever there was an open seat available. The show started on time. As a sampling of looks from Geren Ford, Camila Alves, Issac Mizrahi, Lori Goldstein, Cynthia Vincent, Dennis Basso, and Cristina Ehrlich were sent down the runway in categories as broad and easily digestible as "Femme Fatale," "Global Expedition," "Urban Boho," and "Ladylike," we saw an inconsistency that drove home the fact that we were a far-cry from Lincoln Center. Which, of course, was the point.
This is fashion for the people. Or for young people. Or for young people who like trends. While QVC has made huge efforts in the past couple years to translate its three-easy-payments-of-$19.99-wares to a hipper, more youthful crowd—even enlisting the help of the Kardashians and Rachel Zoe, among others—they may have shot a little too low age-wise last night. While some of the individual pieces weren't too terrible, gigantic baubles appeared to hold up the model’s necks, bug-like sunglasses protected their eyes from the lights, and we swear we saw one model’s whole forearm decorated by the neon plastic bracelets we made at summer camp that one time. Basically, Vogue's Italia's January issue parody/tribute to QVC a la Youtube hit it on the nose.
· Vogue Italia Made a Clever Faux-QVC Video [The Cut]
· QVC.Com [Official Site]
· All Fashion Week Coverage [Racked]
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