As many of you might know, New York Fashion Week took place last week starting on February 11, and ending on February 19. Our own Kent classmate, Hayden Flanders, got the opportunity to travel to New York for the event and photograph actual super models. Being a fashion merchandising major, this was an especially amazing opportunity for him. Her Campus sat down and asked him all about his experience!
Her Campus: What year are you?Hayden Flanders: I am a freshman.
HC: What is your hometown?HF: I am from Atlanta, Georgia, but my home is now the wonderful New York City, NY.
HC: Relationship status?HF: ;)
HC: What is your ideal career?HF: I have a basic outline of my overall goal, which would be to work in the fashion industry as either/all a stylist, fashion photographer, social media management for a business like Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys, etc. I find that limiting myself to a certain job or career in the industry would set me up to close off possible opportunities. I do not want to be limited on my future job options as I would consider any and all opportunities. The reason I wish to work in a luxury department store is because, in my eyes, working for just one designer or just one style would majorly disengage my creative outlook.
HC: So, you were in New York this year for Fashion Week, how was it?
HF: I was! New York Fashion Week, or Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, was a dream come true. This was the first Fashion Week I’ve attended. Being exposed to many different styles and cultures of fashion gave me such a positive outlook and a huge amount of inspiration. I found that NYFW was a perfect outlet for me and anyone else to express their best looks and fashion trends of the season. I also was able to use my skill of street style fashion photography to snap many photos of a variety of fashions and attendees. The people I photographed ranged from supermodels such as Karlie Kloss and Shaun Ross, to many aspiring male and female models expressing their best looks.
HC: How were you able to attend fashion week? Did you need any special pass or ticket?HF: Fashion week is an invitation only event. Unless you have a friend in the industry with an extra ticket laying around or you work in the industry and have an invitation yourself, you are not getting in. You could attempt to sneak in if you can convince the large scary security guards that you are someone important, but most likely it won’t work. An invitation is a must.
HC: Do you think you will return next year?HF: I don’t think. I know I will. I plan to return for every Fashion Week even long after my career in the industry comes to an end. Now that I have seen what I have missed out and beendeprived on for the past years of my life, there is no way that I could miss such a major event!
HC: What was it like having the opportunity to photograph model Karlie Kloss?
HF: Karlie Kloss was even more beautiful in person. From the moment I spotted her outside of the tents in Lincoln Center, I instantly ran to her and filled my camera with her presence. At the time, she was being filmed for an interview and it was quite difficult to catch a moment where she wasn’t blocked by all of the other cameras. Towards the end of her interview, she was very sweet to pose for a few snaps and thanked me for the snaps. It was hard to contain my excitement while staying professional, but somehow I managed! Overall, I spent about 10-15 minutes snapping her photos and watching her get interviewed.
HC: What is the most memorable thing you saw while in New York?
HF: Even though New York is now my home and I have spent much time in the city, I never fail to always have a new experience and memory. Every block you cross there is a new sight to see, a new person to find inspiration from and so much more. I could not just say that there was anything specific on this trip because there were so many different things and people that inspired me, picking one would be nearly impossible.
HC: I see you went to London as well, what did you do there?
HF: Yes! London was another stop on my weekend trip. I decided to spend a couple of days in London because I have never had the opportunity to go before. I was very intrigued by the way that London was comfortable as a city. I started with a few stops at tourist land (The Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the London Eye), and spent the other majority of my time in London shopping and inspiring myself with the fashion trends on Oxford street. Oxford street is like 5th ave. in NYC. Its full of major designers, trendy street style, and everything you would expect to see in a major fashion setting. Overall, my trip to London was so inspiring and beautiful. I definitely plan to make another trip back again soon.
HC: Were you inspired by your experience of fashion week? If so, by what?
HF: I am always inspired by anything that relates to the fashion industry that I get to experience. Fashion week in particular really gave me a small peak at what the hard work that I am putting myself through at fashion school is going to end up becoming for my future. The fashion trends, successful stylists and models and everything that I aspire to live for.
HC: All of the pictures you took were amazing by the way, is photography something you are passionate about?
HF: Ever since I was younger, photography was a huge interest of mine. From the moment I picked up my first point-and-shoot camera, I have wanted to snap everything I saw. As my love and passion for fashion grew to be more serious, I decided that implementing my skill of photography into fashion would be a great idea. For the past three years, I have been studying fashion photography and street style photography as an acquired skill. I get so inspired by the fashion I walk by every day that I cannot help but to freeze the moment in a frame!
All of the photos incldued in this article are Hayden Flander’s, one was even taken by a photographer at fashion week and included in OUT Magazine.
For more amazing pictures check out Hayden’s website and follow him on instagram: @HaydenFlanders