Want Ryan McNamara to design you a Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress? Or Rob Pruitt to make you into a runway star?
Last night, I got a little taste of the fashion high life at Brookfield Place at MOVE!, a three-day interactive art and fashion event featuring unique collaborations between artists and designers including Olaf Breuning, Kate Gilmore, Cynthia Rowley, and Proenza Schouler.
The highlight of the evening was definitely getting my first-ever make-over, courtesy McNamara‘s project, Pose. The finished product? A Diane Von Furstenberg dress featuring a print McNamara designed based on me!
The author gets her hair done at MOVE! at Brookfield Place.
Photo: Jared Siskin, courtesy Patrick McMullan.
First, I changed into the Von Furstenberg dress of my choice, settling on a black number with a lipstick print. Christian Siriano high heels (from Payless!) completed the look. Then, it it was into the chair for hair and make-up.
I learned some beauty tricks (add dark foundation under your chin to hide wrinkles or a double chin), and got tips on how to make my new curls stay overnight (pin them against your head before going to bed), before heading to the green screen, where McNamara was photo directing.
MOVE! at Brookfield Place.
Photo: Jared Siskin, courtesy Patrick McMullan.
My photo shoot experience has pretty much been limited to school picture day and that time my mom made us get a Christmas photo taken at Sears, but McNamara definitely made me feel like a pro. He told me to throw the camera my best, sultry model gaze, and somehow, I managed not to laugh.
We ran through a series of poses. “Modeling is hard,” McNamara commiserated as I struggled to sit down gracefully in the borrowed heels.
The results of Ryan McNamara’s Pose collaboration with Diane Von Furstenberg at MOVE! at Brookfield Place.
Photo: Ryan McNamara.
After we finished, I was able to watch the graphic designers at work as they isolated the images and transformed them into a graphic colored print.
They’ll e-mail me a link with the finished textile design, and I’ll have the option to order it on a $600 Von Furstenburg dress, or on a more affordable jumpsuit like the one McNamara was wearing. It costs either $100 or $150—no one was quite sure yet, but it’s definitely a very tempting idea for a Halloween costume.
Amanda Lepore walks Kate Gilmore’s runway at Brookfield Place.
Photo: Jared Siskin, courtesy Patrick McMullan.
Sadly, it was then time to return my borrowed finery—but first, I begged co-curator David Colman to let me keep it on for just a minute more. He kindly agreed, and I ran over to Kate Gilmore’s red carpet for my moment with the paparazzi.
Dressed to the nines, escorted by two gorgeous male models, I descended the grand marble staircase for a Star Is Born, Gilmore’s collaboration with with Calvin Klein’s Italo Zucchelli. The photographer snapped my photo on the red carpet, and I’ll admit it: Life in the spotlight felt pretty good.
Cynthia Rowley in front of Splatter her collaboration with Olaf Breuning at MOVE! at Brookfield Place.
Photo: Jared Siskin, courtesy Patrick McMullan.
Set in Brookfield Place’s Winter Garden, beneath the staircase amid the tropical palm trees, the glitz and glamour of the event was so overwhelming that I missed the chance to pick up a one-of-a-kind silk scarf, hand painted by Liz Markus in just 15 Minutes.
I also didn’t experience Pruitt’s Looks, which uses a green screen to superimpose your best runway strut onto real fashion week footage, or Crossover, a gender-bending make-over from make-up artist James Kaliardos, which looked like a blast.
I did try my hand at Splatter, Breuning and Rowley’s joint project, an arty take on a carnival game that has participants throw balls in order to knock over a cup of paint, decorating the canvas behind. I managed to hit one cup, but you needed to connect on all three to win a piece of the finished artwork.
Luckily, I can still take another turn: the fun and flashy event runs all weekend—and it’s free.
MOVE! at Brookfield Place is on view Friday, October 2, and Saturday, October 3, 12:00–8:00, and Sunday, October 4, 12:00–7:00.