“ Ouch —my back hurts!” Several showgoers were whispering this to each other at the Palomo Spain show this weekend, held uptown inside a church on the Upper West Side. Those stiff, wooden backless benches provided absolutely no back support for guests. And with the show running close to an hour late, front row VIPs were beginning to feel the pain.
Couldn't they have found a church with some cushioned pews ? The next day, this very writer even had to schedule an emergency massage appointment as a result; my neck has developed a kink, which absolutely stems from sitting on uncomfortable seats at NYFW all day long. Palomo Spain wasn't the only show forcing one to sit backless—spine strained. Sadly, bare-bone benches are a popular seating arrangement at many fashion week shows this week.
At Off-White, A-list stars like Zayn Malik, Camila Cabello, and Issa Rae were all crammed together on long, sleek metal benches, looking totally camera-ready—and totally uncomfortable; At Christian Cowan, Jojo Siwa attempted to sit on the backless bench in her spherical ensemble, but physically couldn’t sit down in it. (She had to watch while standing.) No matter the presentations, as guests continued to shift and hunch over and straighten up again, the consensus was real: Fashion week benches suck! During a week that's so obsessed with chicness, you do have to wonder: Why is the seating at fashion week so deeply un-chic ? Often, guests are taking in clothes worth thousands and thousa.