As star-studded fashion shows take place all over New York City, event coordinators are trying their best to protect against crashers.
New York Fashion Week brings out stars, fashionistas, and internet personalities, but the high profile festivities also attract interlopers hoping to brush elbows with the exclusive guest lists.
With a spike in clever content about sneaking into such events, which started this week, spreading online, event coordinators are being extra cautious, Page Six reported this week.
"They're creating fake websites with fake emails and harassing clients to get on lists to events," a source in the fashion industry told Page Six. "They're buying domains and creating emails associated with it … and claiming to work for other outlets to get on lists."
Some have even "put logos in their emails" of fashion-affiliated companies despite not working for those places.
"We are seeing all these RSVPs… I don't think they are legitimate in any way. It's pretty obvious when you get the emails of the people who are not welcomed to come," one source said to Page Six.
According to the Page Six report, there are reports of a "crashersnetwork" group in which people share invites to exclusive events. On Reddit, more than 600,000 Redditors belong to the r/ActLikeYouBelong forum where they share success stories of party crashers and those faking their way into sporting events and even career paths.
A September report from The Cut magazine alleged that TikTok has created a boom in people attempting to sneak into exclusive fashion events like the annual Met Gala and fashion week after parties. The report highlighted August TikTok videos titled "How to get invited to NYFW" and "The secrets to getting into NYFW."
The creator responsible, Tiffany Baira, reportedly shared a "holy grail" public relations contact list for different brands. The now-deleted videos garnered about 350,000 views, according to The Cut.
In 2020, TikToker Brenna Lip documented her own attempts trying to enter the Met Gala with a fake press pass. In the video, Lip discusses "a clear divide" between the people gathering to glimpse celebrities and the stars themselves.
"It's almost like, 'You are peasants. You can peer in but not be a part of this weird exclusive world,'" Lip said in the video.
Although Lip didn't get in to the charitable gala, which is held at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, the creator appeared to end up in the lobby of a star-studded hotel where famous guests were leaving for the event.