One background extra explains what happened before, during and after Kanye West’s fashion show in New York City.
On Thursday afternoon, Kanye West held a fashion show/album release party at Madison Square Garden. Kanye would end up playing his new album, The Life of Pablo, for the first time before a huge crowd.
This being Kanye, it was not just a concert, but it was also a visual art experience and a showcase for Yeezy Season 4, featuring muted models and clothing pieces showcasing neutral tones.
However, many of the background extras had signed up through an open casting call to serve as background in what turned out to be an exhausting and thrilling experience for some of the models.
In an exclusive interview with Jezebel.com, one of the background extras revealed what it was like working with Kanye West.
It was all very strange.
In order to work on the Kanye West fashion event, you needed to receive a text message from Kanye’s cast and crew.
The day before the show, on Wednesday morning, I got a text message saying:You’ve been chosen as an extra for Kanye West’s show. Click here to print your ticket. It had all these rules on how to arrive: No nail polish, no jewelry, no makeup, don’t style your hair, dress cool, dress nice, wear jeans and sneakers. It was all very strange.
We never heard directly from Kanye.
Nobody ever heard directly from Kanye West. In fact, assistant directors were hired to organize the show.
Throughout the day, there were different people from the production company leading the way. There was one big director for the whole thing and we didn’t interact with him until later in the day when we rehearsed in the arena. We never heard directly from Kanye.
Like most TV shows and movies, Kanye West background actors had to stand outside in the freezing cold for nearly an hour. “We stood out in the freezing cold, 19 degrees, for a good 45 minutes. And then once you did go in and you were approved, you got an NDA to sign.” But, after signing the Non-Disclosure Agreement, things got apparently “weird”.
I was texting my friends a play-by-play, saying in case I go missing this is where I am.
We were bused to a warehouse in New Jersey. It took maybe 20 minutes to get there. And they don’t tell you anything. There’s no instructions. It’s just, “Line up in a single file. Here’s this NDA. Here’s a bag to put your cell phone in.” And you’re just on a bus. You have no idea where you’re going until you’re going through the Lincoln Tunnel. I didn’t really understand why it had to be in Jersey. I had my cell phone up until we got to the warehouse. I was texting my friends a play-by-play, saying in case I go missing this is where I am.
The background extra would later explain how wardrobe and costume fittings worked out. But, what’s interesting is that the clothes the models wore were not actually Yeezy apparel. In fact, she explains that the clothes were “thrift store finds that I think they dyed to be the same color scheme.”
Kanye West’s instructions to his Yeezy 3 Season Models… Bit extreme ? pic.twitter.com/JJ9e7m0dam
— Celebrity Lifestyle (@TheCelebrityLS) February 12, 2016
There was a moment when I was like, I don’t want to do this anymore. I feel like I’m headed to a concentration camp. It feels odd. I don’t know anybody. It was a weird feeling.
