I spent a day with a PR intern during Fashion Week — and she ran circles around me

Sarah Jacobs

PR intern Tori Oliva kept her cool during her first week on the job — fashion’s busiest time of the year.

When you think of New York Fashion Week, images of glamorous models, famous designers, and impeccably dressed celebrities spring to mind.

But who keeps the shows running smoothly behind the scenes? For big-name designers like Nicole Miller, it’s public-relations powerhouse Alison Brod.

Brod’s army of publicists and interns are the muscle behind some of the biggest fashion and beauty brands that make Fashion Week tick (think Kerastase, Beauty.com, Nails Inc.). In their black dresses and high heels, they never break a sweat.

To find out what it’s like to work for the award-winning agency during New York Fashion Week, we shadowed Tori Oliva, a student who at the time was in the first week of her fall internship with Brod. Keep scrolling to see how it went.

On day two of spring 2016 New York Fashion Week, Oliva started her day as usual, arriving at the Alison Brod office at 9 a.m.

The office is clean, bright, colorful …

… and decked out in comfy couches and metallic décor.

Brod is well-known for her obsession with candy.

It’s an essential part of the office ambiance.

A showroom sits to the right of the office lobby.

Client goods from designers like Dannijo and Boden are featured prominently

The office even has a salon where employees can get waxed or have their hair blown out. Recently, Brod had an acupuncturist make weekly visits to the office.

The Alison Brod beauty closet is like a hyper-organized, super-size version of your average bathroom cabinet.

Oversize photographs of Barbie (taken by interior designer Jennifer Esposito, a friend of Brod’s) grace the walls in various conference rooms and private offices.

Many of the agency’s publicists were already running around the city for New York Fashion Week when we arrived to meet Oliva.

Majoring in communications with a focus in public relations, Oliva is a senior at Rutgers University.

This “intern binder” will be her bible during her first few weeks. It spells out everything an Alison Brod intern needs to know.

Oliva’s first task of the day is to proofread and print the RSVP list and media handouts for the Ryan Roche runway show, which Brod’s client, Beauty.com, is doing the backstage beauty for.

Here she is doing the most universal of all intern tasks: refilling the printer paper.

However, it’s not all desk work in the world of PR. Here, she boxes up beauty products that will be used backstage.

Then we were off to our first stop of the day, Blushington, a makeup and beauty lounge that Alison Brod represents. We hopped in a cab and headed uptown.

Blushington was prepping for its “Blush Up” Fashion Week event.

Oliva’s helped prep the supplies needed for the event.

There was a lot of makeup that needed to be pulled and sorted.

She also helped clean the makeup brushes for the event.

Luckily, there was time left for Oliva’s to get her own touch-up before the next stop.

After a quick salad, she double-checked where the next venue was before hailing another cab.

The show we were headed to — Ryan Roche — was at the Meatpacking District’s High Line Hotel. Oliva’s job: help check in bloggers and fashion editors for backstage interviews.

The atmosphere was calm as makeup artist and Beauty.com beauty director at large Romy Soleimani demonstrated the makeup look to her team.

Models hopped from chair to chair getting their skin care, makeup, hair, and nails done for the show.

Sometimes things happen simultaneously and one model can have three or more people working on her — especially if she arrives late.

Some models snacked as stylists went to work on their hair.

Oliva’s direct supervisor, beauty account executive Victoria Natenzon, double-checks the RSVP list.

Alison Brod publicists help facilitate interviews between the media and backstage talent (like manicurist Nonie Creme, pictured below on the right). Oliva helped make sure every writer received a handout that explained the beauty look and detailed the products and techniques used.

Finally, all of the models were prepped and ready for the dress rehearsal. Oliva’s job was done here.

We climbed into another cab and Oliva freshened up while we jetted to the last show of the day, Nicole Miller.

The Nicole Miller show was a little further downtown at Skylight Clarkson Square, one of the official venues of this season’s shows.

This was a much larger production for Bro d’s team, as they represent the designer and are the PR force behind the entire show. A large group helped guests check in and find their seats.

Oliva was tasked with check-in and printing seating tickets for attendees.

She kept her cool as hundreds of guests filed through the door.

Finally, it was time to go inside and enjoy the show. The industry’s most important leaders were there, including New York Fashion Week creator Fern Mallis.

As the lights went down and the 6 p.m. show began, Oliva’s job was officially done — for this day, at least.

Read more stories on Business Insider, Malaysian edition of the world’s fastest-growing business and technology news website.