Naina.co
  • Blog
    • Everything
    • Only Articles & Writing
    • #NAINAxStyle
    • Podcast : The Naina Redhu Experience
    • EyesFor…
      • #EyesForLuxury
      • #EyesForLifestyle
      • #EyesForDestinations
        • #EyesForIndia
        • #EyesForDubai
        • #EyesForEurope
        • #EyesForLA
        • #EyesForLondon
        • #EyesForNewYork
      • #EyesForPeople
      • #EyesForStreetStyle
      • #EyesForDining
      • #EyesForTechnology
      • #EyesForFashion
        • New York Fashion Week
        • Amazon India Fashion Week AW15
      • #EyesForBeauty
      • #EyesForPeople
    • Art
    • #MadeInIndia
    • #NAINAxADOBE
    • #NosedByNaina
  • Photography Portfolio
  • Contact & About
  • Press
  • Clients
  • Newsletter

NAINA.CO

Instagram
Twitter
YouTube
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Spotify
Facebook
online brand building, photography & art
Naina.co
  • Blog
    • Everything
    • Only Articles & Writing
    • #NAINAxStyle
    • Podcast : The Naina Redhu Experience
    • EyesFor…
      • #EyesForLuxury
      • #EyesForLifestyle
      • #EyesForDestinations
        • #EyesForIndia
        • #EyesForDubai
        • #EyesForEurope
        • #EyesForLA
        • #EyesForLondon
        • #EyesForNewYork
      • #EyesForPeople
      • #EyesForStreetStyle
      • #EyesForDining
      • #EyesForTechnology
      • #EyesForFashion
        • New York Fashion Week
        • Amazon India Fashion Week AW15
      • #EyesForBeauty
      • #EyesForPeople
    • Art
    • #MadeInIndia
    • #NAINAxADOBE
    • #NosedByNaina
  • Photography Portfolio
  • Contact & About
  • Press
  • Clients
  • Newsletter
0
  • Articles & Writing

Fashion Week Thoughts #NAINAxGoPro

  • October 19, 2016
  • naina
Naina.co, Visual Storyteller, Luxury Brands, Naina Redhu, Professional Photographer, Experience Collector, Luxury Photographer, Luxury Blogger, Lifestyle, Visual Storyteller for Luxury Brands, EyesForLuxury, Luxury Blogger, Lifestyle Blogger, Luxury Photographer India, Lifestyle Photographer India, Luxury Blogger India, Lifestyle Blogger India, #EyesForFashion, #AIFWSS17, Amazon India Fashion Week, Spring Summer, India Fashion Week, Amazon Fashion Week, #NAINAxGoPro, #GoProIndia, Go Pro HERO 4 Silver, Shot on the Go Pro, Go Pro India Family Member

The things I think about at Fashion Week are rarely about fashion.

The amount of time I have spent on the road, to get to the NSIC Venue and back home and to a designer’s space who showed offsite. This amount of time was spent in the back seat of cabs. All Uber. Gurgaon has better Uber service than Noida did. One cab driver refused to drive above 60kmph and the other one that I encouraged to “Bhaiyya, tez chalaiye.” hit 120kmph before I could tell him, “Please normal chalaiye.” Six hours one day, on the road, in a cab. I was more anxious about the ride than what I was going to wear for five days.

First day of fashion week, barely anyone at the venue knew that there was free WiFi available. I was one of those people. I ranted about how bloggers are invited but blogging / social media updates are not possible, so what is the point exactly. Next day I found out about the WiFi. Ouch. It was good WiFi too.

I have a friend who is recovering from a stroke and she usually accompanies me to fashion week – she wasn’t with me this time and I missed her. To make it up to her, I decided I would pick up all the press kits from all the designers by going to all the stalls in the exhibition space and then go see my friend after Fashion Week wrapped up and maybe that would cheer her up. I failed of course. I managed to pick up only three press kits and those were because I went to a total of four runway presentations and three had press kits. While I’m at Fashion Week, I think about how nice it would be if I had more courage to go do this for my friend instead of feeling shy and not venturing into the stalls at the exhibition space. ( Friend is a writer for magazines / print publications, so she would’ve gotten the press kits if she had been able to make it to Fashion Week. See? Here too, I’m trying to explain my choices. )

My blogger hustle this Fashion Week season was mainly for the first two days where I had to do paid client work. Wear branded stuff and pose at the NSIC venue. This is always fun to do and not only because I’m being paid to do it. If you ever want to get comfortable with posing in public, I highly recommend this exercise. You’re going to get stared at and how. Bring it on I say. And to the people who walk past our hustle and snigger, “Ugh Bloggers!”, only bloggers are allowed to bitch about other bloggers, didn’t you know that? At Fashion Week, I think about all the other bloggers working with the beauty brand that has never even responded to my emails. I think about the bloggers who were flown down from another city when my being in the same city doesn’t get me work from the brand. I think about how all these bloggers are girls and I LOVE that. But where are the men? Isn’t the boy blogger thing exploding currently? I thought it was. I need better sources of information.

Benihana’s portions were better than Olive’s. But Olive’s food is way more delicious. Hungry people appreciate portions more than taste IMO. I order the salad with such anticipation and when those four rocket leaves arrived, I was more heartbroken than I had been when the designer screamed at me “No photos!” at her stall. They tried to make it up by offering free pizza but the thin crust of the pizza was thinner than the most ghisa hua chappal at the venue. But it was tasty. OMG I’m so confused. That’s what I am when I’m at Fashion Week. Dazed and confused.

Used to the pretentiousness at Fashion Week, this season, I was disturbed to learn that I’m a bit fake myself. I’m still quite disturbed by this discovery. If I met you at Fashion Week, and did not introduce Bharat to you, I did not remember your name. That’s my tell for when I’m being lame. I’ll meet you like I’ve known you my whole life and then when you turn around and leave and Bharat asks me, “Who was that?”, I respond with a shoulder shrug so massive, my non-existent gym-trainer would be proud. This usually happens if I remember your face and there’s some sense of familiarity of course. If I don’t know you at all, I’ll tell you as much. ( But then I remembered someone’s name – I’ve only met them once prior and their name has three separate words in it. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that that makes up for the rest of my jiggery-pokery. *eyes squeezed* )

At Fashion Week, I worry so much about what others might think of me that I forget they’re like me too – too busy thinking about their own selves to have time to hate me.

I see editors walking down aisles, alone, I want to go say hello – just as a way to announce, “Hey, you’re not alone. I’m alone too! Let’s be alone together!” At Fashion Week, I wonder how fame affects us. How the perception of being important affects everyone around us. How four years ago, no one gave a rat’s ass about my begging for “backstage access” and now how I’m invited to wherever I want to go – but I don’t want to any more.

The excitement of being seated at the front row still remains. Even if it is because the editor seats are empty and Mr. Sethi invites the second and third rows to the front to fill those seats up. Moving from my third row perch to the perfect front row corner is always delightful. At Fashion Week, I worry about how this NEVER gets old. Am I more pretentious than I think I am?

 

Them : “Do come to my show!”

Me : “But why?”

Why do they want me there? What do they think I can add to their hard work? Promote their collection? But then why don’t they hire me to work on an actual story or hire me as a photographer that’ll produce photos that can be converted into a story? But it’s easier to ask people to attend runway presentations and hope they’ll do “something”? I don’t know. Between the clients who are paying me and the long commute back and forth, I’d rather just get my shit done and fuck off. There is little incentive in going to a runway presentation. The photographer’s pit bothers me, the ego hassles at the media seating bothers me, the security guards leering at my cleavage bothers me, the super cold air conditioning bothers me – but more importantly the “What am I doing here?” bothers me the most. ( Still not thinking about fashion you see? )

Why can’t I use my “professional camera” from the media seating? All the hundred souls cramped together in the photographer’s pit are getting the same photo from the same goddamn angle – I’ve done enough of that. If I’m in the media seat and can use my camera, I might still drop a few blog posts here and there with details of the garments etc. But without that, there is zero incentive to go see a runway show. The massive lounges have large TV screens and it is way more comfortable to nurse a glass of water and stand in front of that screen and stare at details that would not be visible from the pit or the third row anyway.

I think about the state of professionalism in photography. I think about the number of women that are now in the photographer’s pit and how few of them actually are photographers and I kinda like that because it means most are not falling into the trap of head-on runway-drab-photo-gigs and more power to the few who are still staking claim to their space in the pit but I kinda also don’t like it because where are the women photographers?! ( I know a couple of them produce great backstage work and there’s one pounding the pavement with street style but apart from them? ) ( That reminds me, why am I not shooting backstage or street style this season?! Oh wait, because no one hired me to. Which brings me to, “Just how many people are working for free each season of Fashion Week anyway?!” )

Thinking about the garments and the designers and the “fashion” tends to happen a few days after fashion week is done and dusted, when the press releases finally stop pouring in and I can download all collection photos to my laptop and copy them to the phone and then just before I post those photos on social media, I read the collection notes and actually find out what designer did what and who my favourites are. That is when I find out how utterly talented some of the designers in the Indian fashion industry are. I think about the challenges these talented people face trying to express their creativity AND making money in this convoluted Indian market. The market abroad treats them better sometimes.

I couldn’t even get a line of scarves going, I can’t imagine what it takes to churn out a collection every six months for India’s largest trade event for the fashion industry. And it is never just about the garments. You have to have you PR done right, the right lookbooks ( photography, models, styling, location ), branding needs to be on point and you have to put on your game face and show up each day and be present each hour because you might meet a buyer or a journalist or a blogger or a customer and they must not see how tired you really are.

Why do so many of you continue to show up every season? What keeps you going? I wish I could ask you and hope to receive a candid answer. I could use some advice.

 

I think about all the insects that settle onto the hot lights and sizzle and pop and the air smells of charred insects.

I think about what the electric-buggy driver is thinking about me as I stretch my arm out, point the Go Pro toward me and smile and bat my eye lashes at it.

I think about all those people who work behind the curtains, show up much earlier than anyone else, leave much later than anyone else and remain unnamed for the most part – and they STILL continue to show up. I’m sure their commute times are much longer and convoluted than mine. I’m sure their pressures and anxieties are different and larger than mine.

I think about the friend of mine who is in rehab to get her left side moving again after a stroke, when she should be with me at fashion week. I can’t stop thinking about her. And I don’t want to show up. The last thing I want to do is think about beautiful garments and shiny embellishments and clouds and kittens and sequins and the bling and the beautiful people.

But Fashion Week commands me to show up and pound the pavement, hustle the shit out of the five days and love and hate everything about it. And have fun while I’m at it.

And so I do.

Until next season.

#AIFWSS17

( Video produced on the Go Pro Hero 4 Silver. Music : Sevastopol by mobygratis.com )

Total
0
Shares
Share
Tweet
Pin it
Share
Share
Share
Share
Share
Share
Related Topics
  • #EyesForFashion
  • #EyesForLuxury
  • #GoProIndia
  • #NAINAxGoPro
  • AIFWSS17
  • Amazon Fashion Week
  • Amazon India Fashion Week
  • Experience Collector
  • Fashion Week
  • Go Pro HERO 4 Silver
  • Go Pro India Family Member
  • india fashion week
  • lifestyle
  • lifestyle blogger
  • lifestyle blogger india
  • lifestyle photographer india
  • luxury blogger
  • luxury blogger india
  • Luxury Brands
  • luxury photographer
  • luxury photographer india
  • naina redhu
  • naina.co
  • professional photographer
  • Shot on the Go Pro
  • spring summer
  • visual storyteller
  • Visual Storyteller for Luxury Brands
naina

Previous Article
Naina.co, Visual Storyteller, Luxury Brands, Naina Redhu, Professional Photographer, Experience Collector, Luxury Photographer, Luxury Blogger, Lifestyle, Visual Storyteller for Luxury Brands, EyesForLuxury, Luxury Blogger, Lifestyle Blogger, Luxury Photographer India, Lifestyle Photographer India, Luxury Blogger India, Lifestyle Blogger India, #EyesForFashion, #AIFWSS17, Amazon India Fashion Week, Spring Summer, India Fashion Week, Amazon Fashion Week, #EyesForStreetStyle, Street Style Photographer, Street Style Photography India, Indian Street Style Photographer
  • #EyesForStreetStyle

A bit of #EyesForStreetStyle at #AIFWSS17

  • October 19, 2016
  • naina
View Post
Next Article
  • #WTFNaina

#WTFNaina : 5 Minutes of Your Time

  • October 24, 2016
  • naina
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Articles & Writing

I Am Not Afraid of Being Alone

  • naina
  • January 9, 2021
the bridges of madison county, book, robert kincaid, francesca johnson, robert james waller, romance novel, novella, favourite romance novel, naina redhu, naina.co, love story
View Post
  • #EyesForLifestyle
  • Articles & Writing

The Bridges Of Madison County : My Favourite Romance Novel Ever

  • naina
  • October 21, 2020
View Post
  • Articles & Writing

Be Strong.

  • naina
  • August 28, 2020
View Post
  • Articles & Writing
  • Personal Photography Showcase

Hello 40! #40and10in2020

  • naina
  • June 26, 2020
JRE potify, the joe rogan experience, spotify, spotify podcast, podcasts on spotify, the naina redhu experience, comedian, UFC commentator, influencer marketing podcast, brand building podcast, online brand building, social media marketing, youtube podcasts, spotify vodcast, podcast industry, podcasting
View Post
  • Articles & Writing

The Joe Rogan Experience Podcast Moves to Spotify : What Does That Mean?

  • naina
  • May 20, 2020
View Post
  • Articles & Writing

Listening In On A Webinar : Influencer Marketing Post The Pandemic

  • naina
  • May 8, 2020
View Post
  • Articles & Writing

How To Take Feedback From Strangers On The Internet

  • naina
  • April 24, 2020
View Post
  • Articles & Writing

Gratitude In Times of Uncertainty

  • naina
  • April 22, 2020




Naina Redhu is a professional photographer & visual artist.

Her career, spanning 16 years, started with an MBA in IT & Systems, to a job as an Innovation Management Consultant, to branding & graphic design work for international clients, to a full-time solo-entrepreneurship as an Experience Collector.

Naina started her blog 16 years ago and it has evolved from writing about Creativity & Innovation, to sharing case studies about Branding & Graphic Design to finally a destination for some of the leading Luxury & Lifestyle brands as Naina writes features for these brands and photographs them.

Having traveled all over India as a child ( the advantage of having a father serving in the Indian Army ), she is also well-traveled across Europe ( Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Italy and France ), Asia ( Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam ), America ( New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco ), and Canada.

Naina has her own podcast called The Naina Redhu Experience, where she talks about the business and professional aspects of photography, blogging and influencer marketing in India.

Her abstract art, under the KhaosPhilos label can be shopped on the Naina.co online store and she is available for bespoke commissions as well.

"The New Rules of Online Brand Building", Naina's on-ground workshop, recently wrapped up its 7th Edition. Launched in 2018, "Workshops By Naina" is going to be seeing more editions across the country & online.

Naina is also available for hire as a Speaker. She has been invited as a Keynote Speaker at a blogging conference and also speaks about the business of photography in India.

Always learning & evolving online, she has presence across several online spaces including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok and her podcast can be found on all podcast channels and apps.

#EyesForLuxury
  • janavi india, jyotika jhalani, naina redhu, LMIFWSS21, FDCI, Shaurya Athley, aprajita puri, janavi love, fdci goes digital, talisman, handcrafted, made in india, cashmere, shawls, luxury cashmere, eyesforluxury, madeininda, cashmere, kiera chaplin, spectaculars, eyeforfashion, fashion week, india fashion week, lotus india fashion week 2020, fdci fashion week 2020
    Talisman by Janavi India #LMIFWSS21 : Evil Eye Luxury Cashmere Collection
    • October 18, 2020
  • midsummer jardin, hand-painted jacket, impressionist, pointillism, impressionism, post-impressionism, contemporary art, khaosphilos, wearable art, wear a painting, wear art, made in india, make in india, madeinindia, makeinindia, wearableart, wearart, wearapainting, khaos philos, naina redhu, naina.co, naina, indian artist, art on garments, painted jacket, painted blazer, flower garden, midsummer garden, artist's garden, monet, seurat
    Midsummer Jardin : More About My First Hand-Painted Jacket #KhaosPhilos
    • May 31, 2020
  • bmw, eyesforluxury, automobiles, automobile brand, bayerische motoren werke ag, german company, german automobile, bmw 8 series gran coupe, the8, luxury grand tourer, four door, thegentlemanconnoisseur, nainaxbmw, india art fair, bmw at the india art fair, bmwatiaf, indiaartfair2020, new delhi, lifestyle photographer, luxury photographer, car, automobile photographer, art photographer, art fair, naina redhu, naina, naina.co
    BMW at the India Art Fair 2020 #EyesForLuxury #BMWAtIAF
    • February 22, 2020
#KhaosPhilos Art Label
  • The “NUANCE” Wearable Art Series of Brooches Made From Hand-Cut Paint
    • November 26, 2020
  • The Hindu Weekend, Susanna Myrtle, LuxeList, Luxe List, Hand Painted Brooches, Wearable Art, Made In India, Naina Redhu, Naina.co, KhaosPhilos, Chaos Lover, Independent Artist, Brooches Are Back, Accessories, Luxury Accessories, One Of A Kind, Unique Accessories, Hand Made, In Time, Diwali Brooch Collection
    One-Of-A-Kind Wearable Art Brooches by KhaosPhilos In The Press : The Hindu Weekend
    • October 16, 2020
  • face masks, hand-painted mask, Made In India, KhaosPhilos, Naina Redhu, Naina.co, Independent Artist Masks, India Art Mask, Art Mask India, Mand World Magazine, Press, Magandeep Singh
    KhaosPhilos Hand-Painted Art Masks In The Press : MansWorld India, September 2020
    • October 16, 2020
Social Links
Products In The Shop
  • Brooches (89)
    • 2 Inches Diameter (37)
    • 2.5 Inches (35)
    • 3 Inches Diameter (15)
    • Oil (1)
    • Sculptural (47)
  • Collections (108)
    • ALIVE (6)
    • Benches (5)
    • DOTS (17)
    • HORIZONS (21)
    • IN TIME (16)
    • METALS (20)
    • NUANCE (8)
    • Paper 2018 (20)
  • Garments (14)
    • Caps (2)
    • Masks (11)
  • Large Paintings (34)
    • On Canvas (14)
    • On Paper (20)
  • Prints (27)
    • Paintings (20)
    • Photographs (6)
    • Posters (1)
  • SOLD (52)
  • Uncategorized (3)
  • Workshops (3)
Your Cart
#EyesForDestinations
  • narendra bhawan bikaner, narendra bhawan, eyesforrajasthan, eyesfordestinations, bikaner, rajasthan, travel photogapher, nainaxnarendrabhawan, best boutique hotel in india, indian boutique hotel, narendra bhawan india, narendra singh, naina redhu, naina, lifestyle photographer, travel blogger
    The Nine Stages of Experiencing Narendra Bhawan Bikaner
    • December 17, 2020
  • bhairon vilas, bikaner, hotel bhairon vilas, dive bar bikaner, dive bar, narendra bhawan bikaner, rajasthan, eyesfordestinations, eyesforrajasthan, rajasthan photographs, travel photographer, bikaner photographs, bikaner bar
    The Dive Bar at Bhairon Vilas, Bikaner
    • December 9, 2020
  • The Way We Were, Dream A Little Dream, Head Up In The Clouds, Feet On The Ground, Be Elevated, Binsar, Binsar Wildlife Reserve, Mary Budden Estate, Himalayas, Uttrakhand Diaries, In The Woods, Tap Your Primordial, A Forest Dream, Seek The Wilderness, Climb Your Mountain, Forests Are Storytellers, Seek Your Wilderness, Into A Mountain, Find Your Story, Remote Life, Remote Expeditions, Remote Places, Remote Travel, Uttrakhand Tourism, Eyes For Destinations, Find Your Wonderland, Disconnect To Connect, Indian Photographer, Travel Photographer India, Hospitality Photographer India, Luxury, Lifestyle, Blogger, Naina Redhu, Naina.co, Naina
    Dream A Little Dream At The Mary Budden Estate, Binsar, Uttarakhand.
    • October 6, 2020
ART SHOP
  • 2020 #Alive ₹6,000.00
  • Vital #Alive ₹6,000.00
  • Flourishing #Alive ₹6,000.00
  • Vigorous #Alive ₹7,000.00
  • Extant #Alive ₹7,000.00
  • Spry #Alive ₹8,000.00

All Copyright rests with Naina Redhu. All Rights Reserved 2020. Written permission is required for you to copy & use images or text from this website. Email n@naina.co to ask.

NAINA.CO
  • Blog
  • Photography Portfolio
  • Contact & About
  • Press
  • Clients
  • Newsletter
All Rights Reserved. Copyright Naina.co 2020.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.