IFA student Naz Bokhari tells all about working backstage for the fashion line Rokh, in their Autumn Winter 19 show during Paris Fashion Week.
When Global Fashion Media MBA student Naz received the email from IFA stating that the London Based Fashion house, Rokh, was looking for interns she was instantly intrigued. “ Their pieces looked like something out of my dream closet,” Naz recounts.
Rokh designs reconstructed street wear with a tailored avant-garde spin on business professionalism. So she applied and was excited when she received the offer to be a dresser backstage for their upcoming Paris Fashion Week show. IFA students are strongly encouraged to intern during fashion week as a way to gain hands on industry experience. The school gives its student the week off to allow them the opportunity during each bi-annual fashion week.
The day of the Rokh show Naz was to arrive at the venue at 3:30 for a 5:00 showtime, although the show didn’t end up starting until 6. The venue was nice and spacious, which is an added luxury in Paris. There was a backstage area with food and a bar, while the dressers and models were downstairs.
“The show was called Teenage Nightmare, although you couldn’t really see get that until you saw it all come together, “ Naz recalled.
The Rokh show was a contrast of beautiful crafted tailored garments styled in a sometimes abject way. Like sending a model down the runway with a “haircut that looked like it was done, by a little sister”, any teenager’s nightmare. Some of the models carried skateboards while others wore plastic geeky lab goggles as accouterment.
Backstage “everything was really calm and well organized. There wasn’t any chaos, and people were really nice”. This is a sentiment that is so cherished by anyone interning in the fashion industry, but is all too often not the case. A fashion show during fashion week is the grand finale of months of hard work from a lot of people, and the final showcase can feel like a lot of pressure. Sometimes, backstage minutes before the show is the coup de grace when all the built up pressure is released on unassuming interns. So working with Rokh in a well managed, organized, and polite environment was a welcome relief.
Each dresser knew their role, and were instructed to help other dressers if their model didn’t have a change. The designer himself Rokh Hwang was so thankful for Naz and the team, and showed his appreciation with a hug, for the help of a team that was able to make his beautiful teenage nightmare dream come true.
Images: Naz Bokhari
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