High School Seniors Hack Their Way Into Fashion Week

One of the biggest stories to come out of Washington this fall (save for the health care debate) was the story of the Salahis--the party crashing couple that was able to weasel their way into the White House. Apparently the fashion world faces a similar, if less national-security-threatening, problem: two high school seniors from Vermont.

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Remy Renzullo, a senior at the Putney School ("A hippie-ish boarding school in Vermont where students work on the school’s farm,” say Gawker) sent out an email to PR firm BCPM requesting invites for he and pal Becca Shumlin (daughter of Vermont State Senate President Peter Shumlin, who is running for Governor) to Alexander Wang, Alexandre Herchcovtich and Erin Fetherston among others. By the time BCPM caught on to the bizarre emails, in which Renzullo also claimed he “work[s] as a freelance stylist… [for] the future first lady, Deborah Shumlin, of Vermont,” they realized someone from Vermont had hacked into their system and added Renzullo and Shumlin to various shows’ lists.

It may not be the first time: Gawker points out the duo were snapped by the Sartorialist last fashion week (the photo is currently Shumlin’s facebook profile pic). The whole story is pretty entertaining. For Renzullo, a fledgling designer, and Shulman, a wannabe fashion blogger (who has taken her Yourneverneverland blogspot address offline post-press storm), fashion week is probably a lot like Christmas, New Year’s and Thanksgiving rolled into one. Their enthusiasm and respect for what goes on behind fashion’s closed doors probably drastically outweighs the excitement of any of the seasoned fashion editors sitting front row. Anyone who has been to their fair share of shows can tell you, it’s not that fun! Renzullo and Shulman and bloggers like Bryanboy and Tavi are exactly the reason the fashion industry is able to survive. It requires bright-eyed, earnest young things to buoy the jaded.

Besides, with live streaming being the style du jour and designers hawking front row seats for charity, fashion week’s extreme exclusivity is fading fast. What’s maybe most incredible is that Remy was requesting invites to shows with decidedly more avant-garde styles while claiming to be on the prowl for a future Governor’s wife. I can’t think of a single Alexandre Herchcovitch piece that would look appropriate on a US Senator’s wife, no matter how liberal the state.