Imagine sitting next to the most important people in your industry for a four day event. At least seven times per day, there will be little lulls of anywhere between a few minutes and an hour. The person you are talking to could be a friendly new face, a frosty acquaintance or a former colleague you would rather stab yourself in the face than talk to, again, about their dachshund’s behavioural problems. The only thing that is guaranteed is that you will be seeing them repeatedly.
Those are the tricky conversational conditions of fashion shows – where making good small talk is as crucial to creating a good impression as wearing the right shoes. Well, almost. As London’s menswear fashion shows – London Collections Men – begins in the capital, here are some tips in smalltalk from some of the most charming people in menswear.
Just rip that plaster right off
“I introduce myself immediately if we don’t know each other,” says the Observer’s menswear editor Helen Seamons, “because the likelihood is I’ll be sitting next to them at another show and the longer you leave it the more awkward it is.”
Do a bit of homework
“Your last issue looked great,” is a great start with a fashion editor. “I’d only say it with something I actually liked,” says Seamons, “but of course you’re giving someone a massive compliment so they are unlikely to be frosty back.”
Social media can help IRL
“You might see that someone had been on a press trip on Instagram, so you can ask about that,” says Seamons. Talking about social media can be fertile ground, too. Esquire fashion director Catherine Hayward started an Instagram hashtag – #doyouthinkheworksinfashion – with which she tags pictures of snappy male dresses. Once those talking to her know about it, they often start finding her examples or sending her pictures to her for post. The iPhone can be helpful, too, when all conversational avenues have been exhausted. “Later in the day nobody is going to think you’re rude if you start checking your emails or Instagramming,” says Seamons.
Be yourself
Idiosyncratic small chat will either horrify whoever is sitting next to you (in which case they are just not your kind of person) or start a genuine conversation that swerves cliches. Andrew Davis, creative director of Wonderland and Rollacoaster, deploys icebreakers are often funny phrases from his childhood, such as quotes from Victoria Wood. He might point to an item on the catwalk and say: “That’s the blue of our Margaret’s shower curtain there.”
Don’t be cliquey
“A lot of people arrive at the first fashion show in a city and immediately get busy by rushing up to everyone they know,” says GQ editor-in-chief Dylan Jones. “I never do this. I simply talk to the people I am sitting next to, and treat them both as you would at a dinner party, bouncing between both, being respectful, and trying to keep everything as light as possible.”
Gossip is your currency
See a scrum of photographers? Definitely ask those next to you who is in there – or go over, have a look, and report back. “A few journalists who will remain nameless,” says Hayward, “can be relied upon to start the day hungover – you can tell when they are wearing dark glasses inside – and are a great source of naughty post-midnight stories.” In other words, know the best sources for gossip, tap them early, and you will have something to share all day. Otherwise, Hayward will ask her companion for gossip – or even make gossip up: “And see if the bogus piece of gossip comes back to me the next day.”
But don’t be rude
“I wouldn’t criticise what anyone else is wearing,” says Seamons, “But I would mention it if they look nice.” Jones agrees: “So many people like to get bitter and twisted at fashion shows, being rude and bitchy about the designers, the stylists, the journalists etc. But I always think that if you don’t enjoy your industry then you should get out of it and let younger, more enthusiastic people take over.”
If you don’t have gossip, talk about who you would like to create some with
If things go a bit quiet, says Davis, it’s time to ask the person next to you about their show crush. “It’s normally someone new on the scene,” he says. “A buyer from New York or a member of the foreign press. The person you make a beeline for at an evening event when you can’t talk anymore to the rest of the pack. The kind of person you would tell your life story to after two glasses of Champagne or where you buy your bedding plants from.”
If in doubt, there’s always the fashion …
“You can always just talk about the show,” says Seamons. “That is, after all, the common ground.”
... or your journey
“Not so applicable to London but it works in Milan and Paris. You can ask, when did you get here? Then you go into the whole process of how your journey was, what you did last night – there’s always a bit of competition about how many dinners you are invited to and attending,” says Hayward.
If you go backstage and meet the designer, tread carefully
Jones says resorting to cliche can be fatal. If you go for, “You’ve done it again!” “Only you could have designed that …” or “What can I say?”, he says, “the designer will know that you hated their show.”
Whatever you do, cheer up
After a late night and a long day of shows, it can be tempting to say how tired you are. “I can’t bear, ‘I’m knackered,’”, says Davis. “My reply is always: ‘Its so hard watching models walk, getting in chauffeured cars and eating your own bodyweight in finger food. Try a six-hour shift in a kitchen, in summer, in the most godawful footwear.’
