Be Nice

I was watching the eleventh episode of Project Runway (Season 2), the show I’ve been addicted to for the last five weeks. It was down to the last four designers and for the last challenge the remaining designers were to make an evening gown which would be a preview to the collection they would show at Olympus Fashion Week. Held twice a year in New York’s Bryant Park, 7th on Sixth is the production company responsible for New York Fashion Week(s) which presents the shows of Badgley Mischka, Kenneth Cole, John Bartlett, Diane Von Furstenberg, Anna Sui, Calvin Klein, Betsey Johnson, DKNY, and recently our very own Monique Lhuillier. As a treat, the designers got to speak to 7th on Sixth Executive Director Fern Mallis.

Fern Mallis is probably one of the most powerful women in the fashion industry other than Anna Wintour because she decides who gets to show their collections to the world. You can just imagine how huge this is for a new designer.

One of the four finalists, Daniel Vosovic asked Fern what advice she would give to new designers who were to show their work at the most important annual event in fashion. She casually says, “Be nice.”

This really struck me because the fashion and beauty industry is filled with bitchy, nasty, and ugly people. I consider myself bitchy sometimes because hey everyone has a bad day, but I’ve always considered myself to be generally nice (sometimes too nice actually). It’s really inspiring to hear those words from a woman who works in an industry with such a negative reputation. An industry filled with bitches and liars–those that would lie, cheat, and steal for fame and sales. But more importantly, it’s nice to know that people of her stature actually exist.

I hope to become someone like her someday. Successful yet nice.