What is New York Fashion Week?

NYFW is a week long fashion event held in New York City where many of the latest and greatest designers come together and showcase their new styles and creations. All of the beauty industry’s big names will be in attendance. There are runway shows back-to-back and sometimes they happen simultaneously, so there™s never a dull moment.

Attending NYFW is not easy. You can™t simply buy a couple tickets and show up (well, you can but it™s going to cost you a fortune). Most attendants are invited to this prestigious event or gain access because they are members of a relevant news or industry publication, like Vogue or Vanity Fair. For this reason, you may need to have some sweet connections if you plan on going to NYFW.

When is New York Fashion Week?

NYFW is held twice a year. Once in February and again in September. Each time the event lasts for 7 to 9 days and each day is packed full of runway shows and fashion displays for the entire day. It™s basically a week of heaven for those who love fashion and beauty!

History of New York Fashion Week

There is a rich history behind NYFW that dates all the way back to 1943. During this time, fashion industry leaders started an event called Press Week. This event was created during World War II when fashion industry gurus were unable to travel to Paris and bring new trends and styles back with them. Press Week featured designers from the U.S. and gave the American fashion industry a place to strut its stuff.

After many years, Press Week evolved into an integral part of the fashion world and became what is now known as New York Fashion Week. NYFW is regarded as one of the top fashion events and is grouped in the same category as Paris, Milan, and London fashion weeks.

Behind the Scenes

There are a lot of moving parts that makes NYFW work. There are the designers who create what is being showcased, the makeup artists who do the makeup for the models, and the hairstylists who do the hair. There are also the cosmetic brands, like , who provide the necessary products for those makeup artists and hair stylists. All of these people come together to create a week of magic at NYFW.

The Aveda Team

As mentioned earlier, Aveda plays a major role in NYFW. One big way they do this is by putting together a team of talented beauty professionals to work backstage. These pros work feverishly on the makeup and hair of the models. It™s an entire week of non-stop action. This team comes from different places within the Aveda network through a competitive application process. Becoming a member of the Aveda Team for NYFW is an experience that is certain to set you apart from many of the other beauty industry professionals.

One group of candidates for the NYFW Aveda Team are those who attend an Aveda Institute beauty school. At Inspire Greatness Aveda Institute, we encourage our students to apply to be part of the Aveda Team. Working in the fast pace of NYFW is one of the best learning experiences a beauty school student could hope for and our courses are designed to give our students the tools they need to thrive in such a setting.

If you dream of a career in the beauty industry and imagine yourself working backstage, this is one of the best ways to make it a reality.

Joining the Team

Contact us at Inspire Greatness to find out more about what it takes to become a beauty professional and to work backstage at events like NYFW. We pride ourselves in offering amazing opportunities like these for our students to take advantage of. In addition to NYFW, Inspire Greatness students can take part in the editorial remix, London Fashion Week, Beacon, The North American Hairstyling Awards, or a study abroad program. These opportunities are provided to give our students experience and exposure to some of the most competitive beauty industry jobs out there.

Join the Aveda family at Inspire Greatness. We can™t wait to hear from you!

The post New York Fashion Week: What Is It and How to Get Involved appeared first on Inspire Greatness.

My day begins with all things Aveda, like Control Force, Smooth Infusion Nourishing Styling Creme, Volumizing Tonic and Pure Abundance Hair Potion to create lots of volume! #pumpupthevolume #avedaproducts

Then it’s off to school, which begins at 8:30 am. Aveda Institute Denver is located on the 16th Street Mall between Stout and California streets, which happens to be the busiest block on the mall. We have over 20,000 residents and 120,000 workers in downtown Denver. Students offer all the salon and spa services at a relaxed price. Hair cuts start at $15, spa services range from $40 to $50. #downtowndenver #visitdenver

This is my pose! These two girls have made my life so much brighter! What’s beauty school without the amazing friendships? I can definitely say it wouldn’t be nearly as fun without them. #classmates #bestfriends #beautyschool

My mentor and educator, Jenna has truly made learning the best thing it could ever be! I’ve learned so much from her, not only about beauty but also about life. She has helped me face all of my fears – head first. She has the sweetest heart and is by far one of the greatest educators I’ve ever had. Thank you Jenna, for everything! #inspiregreatness #bestteacher #avedaeducator

I learned what it truly means to be patient during this service. I did my first live color cleanse and, wow, was it an experience! Since I started the program July 2015 and began services in the fall. Since then I have completed over 50 services so far. I attend school three days a week so I am on the clinic floor for two and in class for one day each week. #colorcleanse #avedacolor #process

School is out! Dinner for two. Every night I cook dinner and it’s my favorite time of the day. I’m discovering that cooking is another passion of mine. #burritobowls #avedalife #topchefhairstylist

Goodnight world. Wrapping up my day-in-the-life as a cosmetology student at Aveda Institute Denver. Time to sleep with soft, clean skin with help from the Botanical Kinetics line and then wind-down with some hot tea and a good book. I am a sucker for social media also. I love seeing all the new trends. #socialmedia #zzz #avedaskincare #industrytrends

~shared by Allexus Gallegos @allbyalexusg 2016

Our next programs begin soon! Enjoy our 3-day program for cosmetology, esthiology or massage therapy. For more information text or call Kristy at 720-560-2155 or email kfiore@avedadenver.com For more information about our graduation rates, the median debt of students who completed the program, and other important information, please visit

The post Day-in-the-Life of an Aveda Beauty School Student appeared first on Inspire Greatness.

He shared his timeline of his full career in the beauty industry, which began at age 16 when he started school. The program is much longer in England so he was 18 when he completed his education and started his career. Today Ian has been with Aveda for 17 years and as a part of the Aveda Global Artistic Team, Ian spends his days working on education pieces, discovering new ways of teaching others, overseeing how education is pushed out to the network, he collaborates on Aveda collections and product development, works with marketing and also travels and presents often. Though it may seems he spends a lot of his time on stage, he shared he’s literally only on stage maybe a few hours a year. Prior to Aveda, Ian got his start at Toni & Guy.

“Aveda is a company I can work for and feel really proud of.”

Having shared that he feels he could die happy tomorrow because he’s lived the life he wanted, Ian said that he still desires to take a few months off from work and spend some time in Cambodia to help young women trapped in sex trafficking.

Ian shared some of his work with Aveda and a teaser of never-before-seen images of some recent work he’s done on his own. Editorial work is hard work and Ian called it “grueling” when giving an example of the photo shoot in Hawaii for Aveda Damage Remedy. The rain, the lava rocks and the continued challenges with weather in creating a perfect image that was about beautiful, healthy, conditioned hair, that would tell the story of quinoa protein in the products.

“It’s not always about the hair, it’s creating the mood to create the image. And it’s not about YOU. It’s about the model. Editorial style is not the same in real life.”

Understanding what you want from a picture is unique to the subject, Ian says. You have to understand what you are trying to show, tell in the picture. Going back in time a bit to November, 2014 when Aveda shared on their Ian’s work featured on the cover of American Salon magazine, Ian spoke of seeking to inspire more diversity with models and how he loves the “in-between” when it comes to images – that place between the current image and the next one about to happen. The image that cannot be recreated, that’s what he’s capturing.

Color Wheel from Ian Michael Black Living Aveda Blog

“What makes something great is when you create your own version of it.”

Ian doesn’t really think often about what’s happening tomorrow but he will question where he will be in the next five years. Will I be doing the same thing? Will it be different?

Ian didn’t shy away from sharing that this is an industry that requires hard work to start. He urged us to continue on our own journey and make it our own. First, we must master the basics. If we don’t learn to create perfection from the basics, we’ll never learn to advance. This is where establishing trust begins. Trust in the process. Trust in the unknown. Trust in the fear.

“You’ll learn the most when you’re uncomfortable.”

What else did we learn from Ian today? With over 150 of us in the audience today, I’m sure each of us learned something different and the journey will continue to unfold. Having personally watched Ian from afar, in the fan club of many, and seen his work come to life in our Aveda collections, seen him on stage at Congress, seen his work from a screen – having Ian walk from behind-the-scenes in what seemed like a far-away world and suddenly arrive in person, made me realize how our Global company is a community. I was most inspired by him sharing that at Aveda, “the people here work with each other out of respect. You build relationships.”

That’s what it was all about for me today. The inspiration to continue to live the Aveda mission, inspire others and build relationships. And also keep posting Instagrams about my new #avedacolor

Ian Michael Black with Alicia Christus, the voice behind this blog today.

“What I love most about this career is you don’t have to fit a mold. You don’t have to be anyone else. You don’t have to be the best but you need to be consistent and be consistently good. Do your own thing, don’t be like everyone else.” – Ian Michael Black

Aveda Institute Denver is a school for cosmetology, esthiology and massage and is a part of the şÚÁĎרÇř in Colorado, Arizona and Utah. We also offer an Editoril ReMix class, a week-long course focusing on editorial photo shoot practice for hair, makeup and the full production of a shoot. For more information about Aveda Institute Denver, visit our Web site or follow along on Facebook: Aveda Institute Denver or on our Instagram or Twitter feed @inspireaveda.

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