by Jessica Syrjala

Created on: August 06, 2009

It's September in New York City. Bryant Park is filled with tents and the whole city is abuzz with celebrities, socialites, fashion designers, models, photographers, magazine editors and fashionistas from around the globe. Inside the tent, the lights go out for a moment and stage lighting comes on. The crowd falls silent as the music starts and the show begins. Backstage, is another universe filled with organized chaos and people rushing to create the perfect show. The energy is outstanding. The excitement is evident. Welcome to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week!

Okay, so if you're showing in Bryant Park, you probably won't be reading this as I would think you already know how to put together a fashion show. This is the ultimate goal for fashion designers everywhere, myself included: to show the who's who in the fashion industry what you've got. This is the biggest event in the fashion world, but in order to get there, one must conquer the art of creating the perfect show on a lesser scale. Fashion shows are a very hard event to pull off and need an unbelievable amount of coolness under pressure, multi-tasking, organization, planning and a team of people that work together cohesively with the common goal of creating a successful show.

In order to organize a fashion show, months of planning are typically needed. The following are the necessary considerations when planning your show:

1. The biggest concern when organizing a fashion show is determining your budget. If your budget is small, choose which areas of the show are most important to you. Make a list of what items you can do without in the event money runs out. Another option is to ask local businesses to sponsor the show in return for advertising. Use banners with their logo on it at the event and on the flyers to show their support.
2. Decide on a theme. The theme should be relevant to the clothing you choose, the location of the show and the music used. This is the first thing you need to decide on.
3. Decide what clothes you want to show to suit your theme. It is recommended that you have between 20 and 40 pieces of clothing. If you are showing your own designs, don't overwhelm yourself by trying to show too much.
4. Choose a venue. It can be anything from a restaurant to an auditorium to a reception hall. The size of the venue should be large enough to accommodate the number of guests that you plan to have, as well as a runway, seating, a cocktail area and a backstage large enough for

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