I Used to Photographed Fashion Week in NYC

February 19, 2021 by HughE Dillon 1 Comment

FRONT ROW:
Kim Kardashian (with boyfriend Reggie Bush (r)) and Kanye West (with Lupe Fiasco) sitting near each other at the Y-3 Autumn/Winter 2009-10 fashion show during New York Fashion Week at Pier 40 on February 15, 2009 in New York City.

Between 2006 – 2011 I was a celebrity photographer as well as a friendly paparazzo in NYC. One of my favorite events to shoot was the New York Fashion week which would occur in September and in February. The September shows promoted spring/summer fashions of the following year, and February featured fall/winter fashions six months later. Today I’m featuring the opening of the Armani 5th Avenue Opening Party in 2009 which occurred during NYFW Fall/Winter Collection 2009.

It was always so cold during Fall NYFW but fashion week was such a draw for celebrities with all the parties, free clothes and catching up with friends, as was the case for the opening of the Armani 5th Avenue store in New York City, which was a jewel box designed by Massimiliano & Doriana Fuksas Architects.

Giorgio *Armani* comes at his 5th Avenue party.

The photographers lined the “red carpet” along 56th Street and 5th Avenue. The position of the photographers is determined by the PR. As a photographer from Philly, I was not considered a working NYC photographer so I mostly got the 2nd row on a ladder, which is where I am shooting this scene.

I always admired the celebrities, models and notables who walked the red carpet for the parties especially in the winter as they often were outside. It must have been 30f and windy this bone chilling night, and I had several layers on. Poor Vicky. But her assistant was right off to the side and hurried her coat on when she was done the half a block long red carpet

**Chance Crawford** at the height of his Gossip Girl fame.

Rest in Peace:
**Peaches Honeyblossom Geldof-Cohen**

January Jones
**This is how I would mark my photos to send to my photo agency who would distribute the photos to media**
Armani/5th Avenue Store Opening – Red Carpet 02/17/2009 – Armani / 5th Avenue New York, NY United States

It was a lot of fun to shoot the shows, the celebrities and all the parties happening throughout the week. I learned so much about my craft during this period, which by the way was a hobby/career as I was still employed full time as a paralegal in Philadelphia. That was a lot of commuting, and a lot of vacation days off to shoot celebrities in NYC. I stopped going to NYC when I left my paralegal job, became a full time event photographer in Philly. There wasn’t a lot of money in photographing celebrities unless you moved to NYC and were really present everyday to work there, and by 2011 PhillyChitChat really took off and kept me in Philly.
Have a great weekend.

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That Time I Crashed The Met Gala

May 4, 2020 by HughE Dillon Leave a comment

It’s been a model minute since I photographed the Met Gala, ok it’s been about 10 years. I did a quick search and found some photos in my archives from 2008, the 2nd time I shot the Met Gala’s ‘Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy’ Costume Institute Gala held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Met Gala is always held the first Monday in May at the Metropolitan Museum in Manhattan. I never had a chance to officially shoot it on the red carpet, as I wasn’t a full time professional photographer. I was still doing this hobby on the side, and working as a paralegal at a law firm in Philly, where I lived and traveling up to NYC as much as I could to pursue my new passion – photographing celebrities. When you’re not credentialed to shoot a red carpet event, you are a paparazzo and basically have to crash the event to get salable shots.

Back then, in the early years before social media changed everything and attracted three times as many people than you see in this photo, it wasn’t very hard to get the shots I needed. I waited patiently after the event ended to meander across the street to get my shots, before the fans got up the courage to try their luck. If you dressed the part, ie like a photographer in all black, and were respectful, you could blend in back then as there wasn’t a lot of security or organization for the departure.

As celebrities exited The Met Gala like Actress Kate Mara and designer Zac Posen (Kate is best known for playing reporter Zoe Barnes in the Netflix political drama House of Cards. She’s the one who gets pushed in front of the subway. What a way to go, it was memorable.)

Barbara Walters. Always glamorous, kind with a smile.

For her first-ever Met Gala in 2008, **Beyoncé** stepped out in a strapless blush-toned Armani Privé gown.

A pregnant **Christy Turlington** glowed alongside husband Edward Burns (missing from this photo) in *2008*

Kimora Lee Simmons and Djimon Hounsou. She ended up on a lot of worse dressed lists, but I kinda like this fancy free colorful outfit.

Someone whose outfit everyone loved was **Naomi Watts** wearing Dior. She was described as channeling Marilyn Monroe with this look.

**Ashley and Mary Kate Olsen** (The Olsen Twins) whispering as they depart the MET Gala

Ashley wearing a Keyhole Satin Evening Prom Gown, while her sister counterpart, Mary Kate glammed it up with her floor length gold pieced dress. I believe both of these outfits were from their fashion line The Row.

The show stopper entrance of the night was definitely André Leon Talley, who wore a signature cape. When he got to the middle of the stairs he opened his cape to reveal tennis great Venus Williams. A very calculated move, and noted in all the press the next day. Recently Andre wrote a book on his former boss, Anna Wintour, Vogue editor-in-chief and artistic director of publisher Condé Nast — as well as the name behind the Met’s Anna Wintour Costume Center . Last week, an excerpt from former Vogue editor-at-large André Leon Talley’s memoir, “Chiffon Trenches,” revealed that he has been left with “huge emotional and psychological scars” from his relationship with his longtime friend Wintour, whom he’s fallen out with in recent years. The book will be released September 8, during New York Fashion Week NYFW, another event where Anna Wintour reigns over. Touche André Leon Talley!!