by Hitha Forbes.
After 10 years of producing fashion shows, Thomas Onorato knows the importance of a well-run backstage.
“Just a couple years ago,” says Onorato, who, with partner Max Wixom, owns special-events company Onorato-Wixom, “I remember being backstage and an entire wall collapsed an hour before the show. People were screaming and the designer was freaking out. But instead of having a breakdown, we pulled it together and made it work despite adding additional cost to backstage production. Had we not factored in the potential for snafus in the budget, it [the fashion show] would have been a disaster.”
The world may see fashion models in exquisite clothes strutting down the runway during Fashion Week, but they rarely get a glimpse of the action behind the scenes or the associated costs. A designer once asked Onorato to change all the lights to a soft pink, so a celebrity walking in the show would look younger. The total cost: $20,000.