words and photo_sarah bromley.

November 21, 2011.

We did it! 24 hours of cotton fresh runway fashion went down this past weekend for the Cotton 24 Hour Runway Show, and we were there for every minute of it. Boy, are we wiped.

Okay, just kidding. We didn’t make it the full 24 hours…but we went the first few! And got an awesome dosage of inside scoop to share from the talent behind the event. Plus we captured a few pics of celebrity Giuliana Rancic. Oo la la. If you’re a bit clueless to what we’re talking about, go here for last week’s rundown.

When we first arrived, we were in awe of just how huge of a stage the runway sat on. It was placed on Lincoln Rd between Alton and Lenox, basically right in front of Anthropologie—very fitting, considering the store supplied some of the pieces for the show’s looks, along with stores like Gap and American Apparel. There was a large backdrop behind the runway of a timer keeping track of the 24 hours, and a circular DJ booth in the center. And out they came, each model taking up one minute of precious runway time to sport his or hers snappy cotton look, whether it was during hour three’s “Haute Hipster” collection of looks or hour 24’s “Show Stopper”. A full 1,440 looks in 24 golden hours. MTV was there to cover every second of the show and stream it live on the site. Naturally, there were cameras and professionals at every corner, making us feel especially important.

Turns out, UM’s very own Katelyn Pascavis walked in the show, during the 4 AM – 12 PM Sunday shift. You may have seen Katelyn in our “Legend of Tron” fashion spread last fall—she looked stunning. We caught up with her to hear about her experience at the event. “It was crazy backstage,” she admitted, “All the stylists had been working since 8 AM Saturday, so by the time we got there for our shift it was a madhouse.” While the energy was hectic, Katelyn said they still had a great time. “Despite being exhausted, it was amazing to be part of such a big production, and all the girls walking were from my agency so we had plenty of fun joking around backstage,” she explained.

24 hours of fashion? Yes, it delivered. And we were lucky enough to witness it. Oh, what a city we live in.