Introducing Fashion Week Guest-Blogger Patrik Rzepski

Meet, the next Fashion Week guest blogger on our star-studded roster: Wunderkind Patrik Rzepski (he's 26), whose mod-ish, slightly morbid, punk-inspired collections have had us swooning for the past several seasons. While his show takes place later this afternoon, Rzepski will be blogging throughout the next week and a half, giving you his take on what it's like being a buzzed-about young designer doing his thing in NY.

We've been working away all summer long on the women's collection, and it really is exciting (and exhausting) to see it all come together in just a few days.  We moved into our space on W. 16th St. Monday afternoon with our production team, which is headed up by the gorgeous (and insanely organized) Lindsay Pauly.  The venue is a massive, concrete raw space with floor to ceiling windows. It looks like a cross between Blade Runner and Gattaca, and I never want to leave! We were set up in what felt like minutes, and started putting looks together with the lovely Elena while listening to “IV” by The Chromatics. We didn't even have to burn the midnight oil as we were done with all the looks by 11:30 p.m.

We had a ton of fittings scheduled for Tuesday, but the morning went by super fast and, miraculously, on time (one of the perks that come with showing on the earlier side of Fashion Week). The lineup of models that came marching through the door read like a who’s who of the cool kids in town thanks to my brilliant casting director, Julius Poole. I’m totally inspired by everyone on my team this year, and cannot wait for this afternoon. Being as I’m one of those people who absolutely must listen to music while I work, we’ve had the speakers blasting constantly ever since we moved in on Monday. When you’re putting in 14-to-18-hour days, you need an eclectic mix of tunes to keep everyone’s energy up. Here’s a little sample of what we’ve been listening to while the girls are being fitted and strutting back and forth:

“Mettle” - Leila
“O.K. This Is The Pops” - Tones On Tail
“Eisbär” - Grauzone
“L'Amour” - The Prototypes
“Don’t Look Down” - Unisex Salon
“Shift The Blame” - Model Citizens
“Computer Love” - Glass Candy
“Running Up That Hill” - The Chromatics
“Red Organ Autobahn” - Baseball Furies

Pictured above is the world's greatest combat for a hot day -- a four-foot-tall fan.