A woman poses in the street before the Prada fashion show, as part of the spring/summer 2014 ready-to-wear collections during Milan fashion weekon September 19, 2013.It started out as a sideshow but
there are now more photographers outside than in, snapping VIP guests young designers and social media celebrities -- many of whom show upticketless, armed only with ambition.Alessandro Somma used to
work taking pictures on the catwalks of the world's top fashion houses
but he got fed up and now earns his living outside the shows documenting the eclectic mix of "street style".
"It was a continuousrepetition of the same things again and again. There was always the same battle to take exactly the same picture," he said, standing by agraffiti-covered brick wall outside the Fendi show.
"The street is becoming bigger and bigger," he said."There are a lot of bloggers, a lot of photographers for big newspapers who do street and for up-and-coming designers it's an important chance to show off their production," he added.
Asked if there was an alternative "street fashion week", he answered: "Absolutely!"Just a few minutes before the Fendi show, paparazzi suddenly crowd thepavement around a young woman in a flowing dress and a Mary Poppins-style hat clutching a bead-encrusted box handbag.Her name is Cecilie Fabricius and for a few seconds she is suddenly famous."For me street style is art so I like to dress up like a painting," she
said, handing out business cards stating her profession as "MultiArtist" and explaining that she hangs out outside all the shows wearingher own work.
The attention quickly moves on to a new arrival on the street catwalk.Alessia Sica, a doe-eyed brunette and young fashion blogger, is wearing Fendishoes and a black and white pencil skirt that she made herself.
"This is a way of advertising ourselves," she said, as she preened.The stars of this other fashion week might be virtually unknown to thejet-setting fashion community but they have tens of thousands of
followers online who follow their every move and get a few style tips to boot.
For Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani, the street show has become an integral part of every fashion week that can provide original insights."Times have changed," she told AFP at a glamorous party in a palazzo, where actresses Blake Lively and Cate Blanchett could beseen milling."It is all one thing now. Fashion week includeseveryone, young people, older people, bloggers. Involving them is very
important," she said."They are youthful and they have a much more freer look than mine for example and so I am interested in their points of view," she said.Within this fashion week tribe, many are a
hybrid of model, photographer and blogger and some have almost street
artist performances -- balancing on impossibly high heels, pouting on
Vespas, even hula-hooping for attention.A select few have the means to travel to the global fashion industry hubs.One example is Daria Shapovalova from Ukraine, who is photographed in an
amazing array of elegant outfits and writes for a fashion website inKiev."I think fashion is becoming more like pop culture, peoplecome but it's like they're coming to a concert," said Shapovalova,
wearing a dress by a Ukrainian designer with car prints.
She saysshe has a lot of interaction with the 100,000 websites who look at herwebsite and helps them find inspiration on how to dress fashionablywithout having to shell out for the famous brands."People are
usually asking me what I am wearing or how they can pair different bagswith their outfits. They are commenting if they like my look today ornot but in most cases they do!"
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