2,255 models, five runways, one new Guinness world record.  That about sums it up for what transpired last November 29, 2012 with the Glorietta Vibe event which I’m gladly part of.  Here are some of the behind the scenes of this record-breaking feat from my perspective.

No, you’re not lost to some other fashion blog, you’re still reading runningpinoy. 🙂  This is the first time I got to talk about my freelance modeling side, and I’m sharing this story here because of how proud I, together with the rest of the Philippine Fashion Industry, of the Guinness World Record feat we had recently set for the country for “The Most People Walking on a Catwalk.”  This feat was set to welcome the long awaited official opening of the new Glorietta, participated in by more than 2,000 models both professional and non-professional.

My runway experience with Glorietta Vibe began with their online “model search” where practically everyone may submit their picture and site visitors get to vote on.  Of course submitted pictures are first screened before appearing on site for voting and at the end of the day the top 10 with the most votes gets invited to be part of the show.  Unfortunately I didn’t make it to the daily top 10 as competition was fierce, but luckily getting in isn’t exclusively through popularity as I got picked nonetheless.

For reasons I still don’t know, communication between the organizing committee was anything but fab.  It took some time before the ball started rolling from the initial email for registration to getting your brand assignment.  I actually started getting frustrated when I didn’t get any updates days after registration!  It wasn’t until a few days prior to the event when I finally got my brand assignment: Perry Ellis.

To keep the story short, organizing a fashion show with multiple brands and thousands of models hiccups are to be expected but fortunately for me, I was spared the extra inconveniences.  Down to the last minute, some models were still having issues with their brand assignments.

Modeling really isn’t always as glamorous as many people believe—it is also about hard work.  Being assigned with Perry Ellis, I was expecting that I’d be dressed in their outfits from top to bottom and there’d be stylists to pick which ones I’d wear on the runway and there’d be hair and makeup artists to enhance my looks—but none of that happened.  I was just asked to pick at least two tops for me to wear during the show and for the rest, I was on my own.  Good thing this is not new to me, but the burden of styling still falls on my shoulders.  Having a sense of style is a skill required of a model.

Moving forward: the big day.  Call time was really early, at least for me.  It was all about registration, orientation, and rehearsal.  There were five runways with various brands assigned to each—pretty clever given the target number of models to walk.  It was a really hot day to line up outdoors, but at least you get to be under the heat of the sun with around 2,000 other models, including the country’s best ones!  I was so glad I brought along my shades at that time. 😎

One of the things I don’t really like when it comes to fashion shows are the waiting times.  You’re usually asked to prepare quite early, but between being ready and the actual time you’d walk takes quite some time, and in our case it was a few hours!  Oh well, I guess I don’t have the right to complain as others can only dream of being stuck in the same area with hundreds of models.

For the sake of being organized everyone has their own seat with number in the holding area, grouped by brand.  100% attendance is highly unlikely so to make sure the model count is accurate, we were asked to wear a number just before going to the ramp.  Guinness is pretty strict with the count, carefully monitoring that the counters don’t “jump” and apparently even scrutinize if those walking can be counted as models (as per the story I received that some “models” were disqualified from count).

Show time: as we were lined up to the stage I still can’t believe I’m sharing the runway with the Philippines’ top models!  It was a dream literally coming true!  I almost felt teary-eyed but of course I had to snap out of it and keep my composure for the impending walk.  Truly quite a euphoric experience! 😀

The show was streamed live online for everyone else who can’t be physically present to witness this record-breaking feat.  With five runways simultaneously engaged with gorgeous models and only seconds of “fame” I was very fortunate that my walk for Perry Ellis got to the feed, and had a friend catching the stream at the right moment to capture a screenshot.  It’s as if that moment was really mine!

Sadly, all good things come to an end.  For us models of Perry Ellis, the last stop was returning (with a heavy heart) our borrowed clothes to the store.  How I wish so badly that I can keep the shirt I wore!  Well I could have bought it, but that’s not the point.  I actually didn’t get to take home anything after that, but nonetheless I was really happy.  Happiness really isn’t always about the material things in life.

While my walk on the runway was brief, I consider it to be one of my lifetime achievements (similar to marathons and ultras).  I learned that even if we’re no longer as young as we used to be, we can still keep dreaming as if we really worked hard enough, it may still come true!

To my fellow models and the crew behind this record-breaking feat, Congratulations!  We did it!  We’re part of Philippine Fashion Industry history and of course the Guinness World Record for “The Most People Walking on a Catwalk.”  Thank you very much to Glorietta, Vibe, AVA, and of course Perry Ellis.  I look forward to working with you again!