Adam Kimmel SS12: Backstage

Going behind the scenes is always the most interesting element to fashion week for me. The gloss & glamour are stripped away and what's left (hopefully) are a group of real people with real talent who are creating something they believe in. This is truly the case with New York based brand Adam Kimmel, whose understated menswear made the cover of every fashion daily this season at Paris Fashion week with their first runway show.

Last season, I went behind the scenes to capture the AW11 presentation and this difference for SS12 is astonishing. Moving to a show is a far greater production but the transition was seamless. Working again with New York stylist Matt Ottenberg, all the looks were planned in one corner while in another the group of street-cast and professional models chatted, drank and ate together. For a show of this size, the backstage was surprisingly serene - no shouting, no running, no stress. It's the way a show should be and made my experience of the runway even more enjoyable.







































After the show, the models and guests poured into the gardens outside. On one side, the fashion crowd mingled as Tim Blanks interviewed Adam for Style.com. On the other, the street-cast models (mainly skateboarders and surfers) congregated in a quiet corner. There was a moment for both groups. For the skaters who were street-cast in the show, life goes on - at the end of the day, these guys with boards in hand stood comparing tattoos. A vision of the real Adam Kimmel man. On the reverse, this was another beginning for Adam Kimmel. Tim and Adam coincidentally wearing matching plaid shirts shared personal jokes & genuine fondness, representing the acceptance of Kimmel into the fashion fold.





-- Jonathan