On Saturday I left Boston for Toronto to see James Collins. As many of you know, James is the writer of my favorite song Spellbound by Sherrie Lea. Who would have thought on that rainy San Fransisco day that my little dance and Boy Wonder’s good sense would lead to nearly 100, 000 You Tube views and meeting James, who would in turn be a great ally and friend to us both.

James has his own album out called “Messenger.” The songs God’s Great Banana Skin and Going Nowhere In A Hurry are my favorites and coincidentally, Banana Skin is climbing the Canadian charts. You can thank good talent, a good song and fierce determination from James himself for the success of both of them.

Check out the video for James’ song Do You Mind If We Talk About Bill ?

Do You Mind If We Talk About Bill? was insprired by the true story of a Canadian pop singer, from the 70’s, who had a sex change. Some of the photgraphs on the wall in the video are of actress Nina Arsenault documenting herself after surgery and throughout her sex change. We were thrilled that Nina offered pictures of herself going through the process.

Spending three days with James has given me insight into not only what he does for himself, but other people. He is always on and ready to make everybody around him excited for the project at hand. Being the quiet, reserved guy that I am it was quite exhausted just watching him. You can tell James is passionate about his work and if somebody is working with him that he believes in, well his energy is contagious.

In my book he is the host with the most. He was attentive and respectful offering his time and resources in a non-threatening free form manner. He was there with out being too smothering. I admire that in somebody SO much. My space is very important and anybody who respects that gets 3 stars in my book.

Did you know that Toronto is home to the world’s tallest free standing structure and the world’s longest street? We visited the CN Tower on Sunday, but the outside deck was closed due to winds. We were able to enjoy the glass floor inside that looked all the way down to the bottom of the tower. Standing on the floor was quite trippy, it gave me that weird feeling in the base of my gut and left me feeling a little apprehensive. Watching twenty toddlers stomping all over it did not help much either. James took some coaxing to get him to sit on the floor, but eventually he did, losing his lunch shortly thereafter, just kidding.

As I sat in Toronto’s airport contemplating the weekend I realized that I would not have a real weekend to myself for several weeks. Not that I ever do as I usually work, but in this case I would be out of town… again and again. That means time to get in a little luxury after my journey even if it that translates into cleaning out my place in P’town. More on that soon.

The Hotel Bryant is on 44th between 6th and 7th; right near Times Square and directly across from Bryant Park where Fashion Week 2006 was held. Being right at the heart of the action the energy of the event pulsed through me. From my room I watched as name after name came out the back of the tent to their waiting cars to hit the next show. The gate was crowded with photographers waiting to snap a shot and fans lined up to get their pictures taken with the celebs. It was more than electric, it was intoxicating. As an aspiring designer it was all I could do to contain myself. I know it’s naïve to imagine being discovered by Marc Jacobs, but believe me the fantasies were swimming in my head. I had my traveling partner and very good friend Saya take the reigns and shoot this little clip as soon as we got there.

I had my fitting at the Empire State Building. I planned an all-original ensemble consisting of a shirt I made, pants I Hazzardized and toting a bag that Saya had made. As soon as I entered the room a small camera crew walked up to me and asked if they could get a few words about the show. They were from MTV and were covering the Heatherette show. I was caught totally of guard, but naturally obliged. The fitting lasted all of ten minutes.

They took the shirt in at a couple places around the shoulder, threw some last minute accessories on me like these sunglasses and the item that pulled it all together, the empty Vodka bottle. It boasted the name Georgi. When I took a whiff to experience its bouquet I was met with a most unpleasant aroma that I will not soon forget.

After everything had been placed, they took a Polaroid and clapped their hands in delight. As I got undressed and dressed again I took great care in putting my pants on very slowly and removing my shirt to showcase the designs. They had not noticed the hand embroidery on the jeans or the tribal design down the sleeve of the shirt or the bag. They did however notice my socks. I own not a single pair of white socks; they are all tie dyed. The assistant asked if they were Heatherette socks.

“No, I made ‘em.”

“You have a little Heatherette in you” he said.

That was good enough. I left for dinner in Chelsea planning on introducing the line of socks along with my T shirts.

The day of the show I did not eat anything aside from some yogurt in the morning. I was a little nervous at what could happen and what would happen. Backstage was nothing short of semi-organized chaos. Models were late and Richie was on roller skates; I suppose that helped. He slowed down enough for us to get a quick photo. He photographs really well.

They allowed photographers backstage. I suppose with people like Paris and Nicky, Mya and Mena Suvari it made sense. The space was tiny and people were everywhere asking questions for their show or taking pictures for their magazines and websites. It made for a very crowded backstage. Mena was one outfit over from me and Paris and I had our make-up done next to one another. I was really surprised that they were both a bit shorter than me! It was a little surreal to see Mena; I admired her performance in season 5 of Six Feet Under so much. Mya stood behind me in queue for the line up. Paris remained untouchable as she was escorted from her first walk to the next outfit change.

During the line up I was told I had a partner to walk down with. This concerned me because I had not been informed before or been told how to walk down with him. On a runway you are to walk down, do your look and pass the oncoming model on the right. Well. The runway was lined with flailing dancers on either side and Paris and Nicky were walking before us, side by side. I had no idea how to do this. Should we separate and walk up side by side? Should we walk up one in front of the other? My partner had no clue either and no one seemed to care very much about the order – so why should we? I suppose it went well. Nobody fell and the pictures came out great.

I enjoy doing the runway; everything about it to me is exciting. It’s different and my clothes get to stay on eliminating the worry of looking bloated or being cold – you guys know exactly what I’m talking about! I went to the hotel right after the show skipping the after party. I was so tired and did not feel like being around any more crowds or cameras. It was a great couple of days and I was glad I was there. My only regret is that I didn”t get to keep anything.