Last Monday around noon, Maryam Nassir Zadeh planned to show her Fall/Winter ’17 collection at the Guggenheim on the Upper East Side. Around 12:20 p.m., I was sprinting up Fifth Avenue, wind practically blowing me back down Fifth Avenue and with involuntary cold tears streaming down my face. I was late. When I finally blew inside, MR photographer Krista didn’t get a flying F about my frazzled state because she was glowing like she’d just gotten out of a rock concert or a spa or a spa-rock concert.
She’d spent that last hour hanging out backstage with her camera, Zadeh and all the models and she was on cloud 109. “I’ll never get over that feeling of squeezing into a tight space,” she told me, “that’s crowded and hot with models, dressers and designers, the pre-show adrenaline coursing through everyone’s veins. It’s infectious.”
I could tell. Luckily I was okay on time and no longer crying and so we found our seats as she clicked through the photos on her camera, showing me what she’d just shot.
“It’s both exhausting and invigorating. A little anxious,” she continued, as she turned her preview screen to reveal a photo of artist India Salvor Menuez prancing around in her underwear and red MNZ boots (slide 5). “India is so confident.”
Krista explained that sometimes the show itself doesn’t measure up to the backstage experience. “After watching everything come together and witnessing the last minute decisions and conundrums at such a close distance, the show itself can almost be a let down. There’s something wonderful about being a part of a hurricane of energy.”
In this case, the show was far from a letdown, we both agreed. Perhaps better put: it was a comedown, with its ethereal echo-y soundtrack, its warm, even lighting and the slow and gentle gait of the models as they tapped around the circular room. Click through above to see the chaos Krista shot backstage and the calm that followed.
Photos by Krista Anna Lewis.
