I’m a celeb fashion designer – stars fight in the FROW at New York Fashion Week & models only get picked the day before
FROM the front row to behind-the-scenes moments, celebrity fashion designer Pamella Roland has spilled the Fashion Week beans.
The stylist to the stars has dressed every A-lister from Chrissy Teigen to Halle Berry, plus Debra Messing, Angela Bassett, and almost every other name in Hollywood.
If you watched Paris Gets Married then you are already familiar with Pamella’s designs.
She created one of Paris Hilton’s four wedding looks — and the front row at her show is always a star-studded scene.
The designer confirmed that most actresses call the fashion house directly to secure a prime runway seat — and drama sometimes upstages the designs.
“I heard that the Real Housewives of New York City were filming at my show one time and didn’t know until later that a couple of the girls were fighting,” Pamella told The U.S. Sun.
“There is not a single celebrity who has not been to our show at this point.”
It might be one of the most stylish events of the season, but curating a couture Fashion Week runway show also means working on crunch time.
“There’s not much time to select models since they go from city to city,” she explained.
“There is less than a week to pick all the models and that list doesn’t narrow down until a couple of days before the show.
“We work around the clock and things get even more hectic the closer to the show.
“We have people trickling in for auditions say Saturday and Sunday when the runway is scheduled for a Monday.”
And with time also limited backstage, sometimes it’s too late to fix mortifying makeup mishaps.
Rolland recalled some of the biggest Fashion Week fiascos.
“I once had a makeup artist and his team put too much blush on all of the models,” she said.
“I tried to rub it off in time but there was nothing I could do.
“It was a September show and it was very hot out and it looked like it was running down their cheeks.”
She also explained how her Fashion Week looks aren’t all one size fits all.
“We work with what looks best on each model and their hair type,” she said.
“If someone has hair that doesn’t curl well, we’ll keep it straight and pretty.
“Everyone has different pigments on their skin so sometimes we decide very last minute what we’ll do, if we have to adjust something.
“We have 35 models so there’s not enough time to spend on extensions or other time-consuming looks.”
She once regretted giving a hair stylist free reign when he sent a model down the runway with soaking wet hair.
Needless to say, he didn’t come back.
I’m in my 60s and I always wear heels. I’m going to wear them until I die
Pamella Roland
Rolland, who designed Kristin Chenowith’s wedding gown, also recalled how New York Fashion Week was even more fast-paced in the past.
Years ago, all of the shows were held in one place such as Bryant Park, rather than being so spread out like they are today.
“The models would be coming late from another show because they would cut it so close,” she said.
“I would be taking off bright green nail polish or redoing crazy hair, with minutes leading up to a show.”
Now going into her 22nd Fashion Week show, the celebrity designer doesn’t put up with drama any longer.
“It’s a lot of work and money for 15 minutes. I have fired people the week of Fashion Week because they were drama queens,” she said.
“I don’t tolerate that in my fashion house.”
Rolland has also experienced one of the most crushing realities for a designer — her finale dress breaking right as the model was about to walk out.
“You just have to keep moving, there’s nothing you can do anything about it now,” she said.
And the top designer requires her models to be more than just a pretty face.
“I had a model who was supposed to wear two looks,” she said.
“But after sending her out in the first gown, ‘I said oh my God, this woman can’t walk,’ so I didn’t send her out in the second dress.
“You can be stunning, but if a model doesn’t know how to walk on a runway it can completely ruin your show.
“I can tell in a second if a model can walk or not.
“I once had Miss J from America’s Next Top Model come in and do a run-through with my girls before the show.
“Today, girls don’t wear high heels anymore so they don’t know how to walk.
“I’m in my 60s and I always wear heels. I’m going to wear them until I die.”
After more than a decade in the designer dress business, she has certainly learned how to put on a show – and put out any Fashion Week fires.
“I have an amazing team, we’re all oil in an engine,” she said.
“We work well together and everybody knows their job well, so we have fun, even though it’s not always fun.
“Sometimes things happen and you have to know how to handle the situation when things don’t go well.”
The only thing the designer likes more than couture is comfort.
“We like to brag that actresses and anyone who wears our gowns are staying comfortable in our corsets all day,” she said.
“I once left in the middle of the Oscars because a corset was digging into me, so I had to figure out how to change that.
“Now our corsets are perfected so that even a bride can wear one without worrying about feeling discomfort.”