Fashion: Glam slam Glamorama
Three big-name musical acts, eight major fashion designers and about 40 models will descend on the Twin Cities this weekend for Macy's benefit fashion show, Glamorama. Now in its 21st year, the event is the biggest annual fashion production in Minneapolis, with a core production team of six that handles everything from selecting the clothing and choreography to lighting and set design.
Not surprisingly, the show is a long time in the making. Glamorama producer Mike Gansmoe says it takes a full year to plan the show from inception to execution. He put it this way: "The second the show is over, I can guarantee you I'll be talking to my boss in New York and it's like, what's next? What are we going to do next year?"
We spoke to Laura Schara, Macy's trend correspondent and Glamorama fashion director, three weeks out from the big event. "Right now it's sheer craziness -- it's serious crunch time," she said between meetings. At the time, Schara was working on reconfirming all the models -- a huge 40-piece puzzle, considering that the models are from various agencies nationwide.
Everything really begins to take off for Schara each February when she hits New York Fashion Week. "It gives me the chance to see what trends are happening that are falling into the theme," she said. Afterward, she meets with designer reps in New York, where she gives them a list of looks she'd like. "It's a big ask from the designers," Schara explained, since the show needs to hold onto samples for about three weeks. "But they love the event and I've worked with them for years. They trust us."
Five months before the show, model casting begins. The team looks at 400 to 500 models from Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Minneapolis to choose a lucky 40. New this year was the addition of Minneapolis in the model castings, from which they plucked a couple of locals: Greta Sundquist of Vision Management and Dannielle Zephier from Moore Talent.
Two months out, hair and makeup planning begins. Alex Sanchez, a makeup artist with Lancôme and Glamorama's lead makeup artist, starts by looking at the theme of the show and the clothing, as well as fall makeup trends. When designing the looks, he explained, "You play up your own references, your own heroes and style icons, and then you put your modern spin on it."
During the second week of August, Schara heads up a 10-hour day of fittings. She says it gives her the chance to look at the group as one full collection and make sure the segments are cohesive.
On the day of the show, the numbers are even more impressive: It takes a team of 43 model dressers, five wardrobe stylists, two alteration specialists, three model senders and 13 hair and 13 makeup artists to get the models ready. And that's not even taking into account the huge staff required to throw the event's infamous after-party.
"It's really a great team effort," Gansmoe said. "It takes a village to make this show come together."
