Mar 19th, 2017, 12:17 PM

RIck Owens F/W 17

By Sofia Penton
From backstage to the front of Rick Owens fashion show

I never expected this year to be the year in which I would attend my first big fashion show. As I work for an online magazine, I was able to help out backstage at the Rick Owens Fall/Winter 2017 show at Palais the Tokyo. Never had I been more nervous or more excited in my life, and while I was feeling the excitement, I got told that my backstage pass meant nothing more than assisting hair and makeup. I realized I wasn't going to see the show after all.

Crestfallen, I assisted the hair and makeup, and when the models where ready, I felt a hand touching my badge and a man yelling at me "You don't have a first look sticker, get out! You're not supposed to be here anymore, there's the door, leave!". The man terrified me to the point that I only managed to utter: "I'm looking for my boss and then I'll go". As I made my way towards the exit, I took the wrong set of stairs, leading me to where the show would be held. I took out my phone and started taking pictures of it all, gazing at all the editors and fashion icons, afraid of being kicked out by an angry tall man, once again.

Yet, a few moments and photos later, the music started, and as everyone sat down, I realized there was no way I was being thrown out of the show. I had managed to end up in a much better place than the backstage area: I was in the front rows of the runway. The music started, and as soon as the first model stepped on the runway, there it was: the moment I had been waiting for.