Well it was finally time. Even as I planned my trip to Florence I had always said "I have go to Milan for fashion week," although I wasn't 100% sure that it would work out. Looking back I'm so thankful that I ended up going, considering it may have been the best weekend of my life. Even if its not fashion week I highly recommend visiting Milano; it is an amazing city that has a perfect blend of old and new.
Milano Centrale (the station where we arrived) was pretty expansive. Keep that term "expansive" in mind because it seems to be a running theme in Milano.
One of my favorite parts of Milan is strolling past the many beautiful Art Nouveau style buildings throughout the city.
One of my many "off the hip" shots. I have photos of this guy with his head but I find it more interesting this way.
Since Milan is a much larger city than Florence, there were a lot more classic style motorcycles, which I totally loved.
It is truly difficult to portray the amazing size of the architecture through photographs.
And you're really feelin' classy and money is no object and you look the part, then you just might be able to score an invite to... McDonald's.
This was one of the buildings that was kind of like part of the "headquarters" for fashion week. Directly across the street was where the Cavalli show was held. It was also the building where I first tried to talk my way into a show (as follows below).
I saw on a shcedule that a show for Mossimo started at 4:15. It wasn't quite 4:00 at the time so I took a walk, took pictures etc., although I was careful to not be seen by the men out front because it would mess up my story. In my free time I devised a plan that went something like this: at 4:20 or later I would run a short distance from the square that the duomo was in to the entrance of the show . The whole point was to appear as if I was a photographer who just got out of a cab and ran to try and make it on time (no doubt I had an editor that I'd just gotten off the phone with that had been chewing me out). The next step in the plan was to convince the guy at the door that I was in a hurry and forgot my pass (gasping for breath the whole time because I had been running so much of course). He would then say "Oh I gotcha back, bro, I was gonna let ya in anyway" and then make a gesture for me to pass. (continued below)
So that was the plan.... and here's what happened: I ended up waiting until about 4:20 but felt that there wasn't enough buzz around the entrance yet. I must admit this was a somewhat scary event for me; I am Mr. plate goes in the dishwasher not in the sink type of guy, so to do something that was against the rules-ish was very weird, and in fact there were a couple times where I began to run towards the entrance but stopped. Around 4:30 I summoned the courage to make my grand performance. I began to run, which was awkward because usually the only time anyone runs in a tourist area is because they just sold their last knock-off Gucci bag and they have some new running partners called the Polizia. I arrived, doing my best to look like I was in a hurry or at least that had a clue what I was doing. I don't really remember the exact details of the exchange between myself and the man at the door, but I think we might have started off with the good old "parla inglese?" This man was interested in one thing: my pass. He says "pass" so I pretend to reach for a familiar pocket but ... wouldn't ya know? its not there, so I went through all my pockets as he watched. I decided it was time for phase two so I said "one second, let me call someone" I then dug out my cell phone, pressed some buttons so it would make a couple meaningful noises and proceed to have the fakest phone conversation of my life. While on the phone I pulled out the "Oh do you have our passes?" and "What? What? You're still at the hotel? No, no I need them now etc." Appearently the man at the door did not understand "fine american acting" when he saw it. And it eventually came down to: no pass, no can do. So I sulked away with the feeling like I had just been turned down by the purtiest girl the shindig.
The following photos are the wonderful sights I saw while getting lost looking for the Versace show.
For some odd reason my friends and I thought that it was a larger public show that took place in a park. It definitely was not; it was at a very private venue that took place near the end of said park.
I finally found the locale as it began to rain which was perfect considering I hadn't taken my jacket, umbrella or something to cover my camera.
But little did I know that fate would soon take a turn.
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