Miller at the Interview after-party.Photo: Getty Images
It’s still early summertime, which makes even the most precocious among us think ahead only to this fall — except for fashion designers, who are all prepping their spring 2008 lines (which, natch, they’ll show this fall). We bumped into Nicole Miller the other night, at the Soho Grand after the Interview screening, and she told us all about planning a new show — the science of picking dates and times, and the dreaded curse of model-hoarding.
Stressed?
I’m okay. I just got my date. I had the choice of being on the first day or the third day, and I thought, What difference does it make?
Are there politics that go into what date you pick?
You’re asked when you want to show, and you get your first, second, or third choice. This time I got two out of my three choices. I opted for my second choice in the end.
Does the time of day matter?
I don’t like the morning shows. I like later in the day. There are a lot of considerations: Where you are, who’s before and after you, where they’re located. If they’re far away, you worry about the editors running from here to there.
Do designers in the tents resent designers who go off-site and mess up scheduling?
Designers get mad at other designers because they hold models for the entire day or they put holds on models before they release them or they take too many models. There’s a lot of model-hoarding. I’m never quite sure if a designer has screwed me over. The agency always goes, “Oh, it’s the designer.” And the designer always goes, “Oh, it’s the agency.” You never know.
So what did you settle on in the end?
I’m on the first day at 6 p.m. First of all, if I had a show at noon, I would have no idea what to do with myself for the rest of the day. I’m too disoriented and confused. I like early evening. To me, the later shows are too theatrical. It’s too much drama, too much of a clubby sort of thing.
Are you nervous already?
I get nervous the minute the music starts playing. But not before then.
—Jada Yuan
