“Trust me, this is going to be the easiest day of your life,” producer Alice Barlow booms as she leads models in various states of makeup and dress follow-the-leader style around the set of the Puppets and Puppets fashion show. As they trot, a set designer carries in trays heaped with real spaghetti. Fashion assistants assembled peanut-and-butter-and-jellies at a makeshift table nearby. The models tower over their frontman (especially in today’s heels), but she expertly weaves them through the backdrop she’s brought to life, bellowing notes about cadence and direction throughout the journey.
The inspiration for designer Carly Mark’s Fall ‘23 Puppets and Puppets show is David Cronenberg’s 1988 film Dead Ringers. “It's about two twins that kind of descend into madness and start doing a ton of pills,” muses Barlow, “but that's neither here nor there.” For the collection, that meant eerily rich color palettes and perfectly odd tailoring. For the venue, they landed on The David N. Dinkins Municipal Building in New York’s Financial District. Barlow and her team at eponymous Barlow & Sons have worked in this building and the buildings surrounding it numerous times. (This is less odd than it sounds; I attended a show at the Surrogate’s Court across the street the day prior). This particular room was initially shown to her as potential backstage space years ago. Talking through venue options with Mark, whom Barlow connected with via mutual friends, the idea resurfaced. “And basically I had them at weird,” Barlow notes. The venue has school-room-esque blue-and-white checked linoleum floors, a stark contrast to the architecture above. “They didn't even know that these were Guastavino arches,” Barlow says, appalled. “They used this room to eat lunch in.”
The Barlow & Sons team used old food and books to create the Puppets and Puppets fashion show set.
Fashion assistants assemble peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches ahead of the show.
Photos: Courtesy of Puppets and Puppets
These props of seemingly "dirty dishes" are actually covered in chocolate frosting.
Coincidence or not, lunch materials now scatter the floor in a seemingly haphazard fashion. One particularly eery stack hosts everything from books and cake to bread loaves and the aforementioned spaghetti. Another, oranges, cherries, rose petals, and knives. (The team worked with restaurants in the surrounding areas to repurpose day-old food that was headed for the garbage). Near the entrance, seemingly dirty dishes litter a tray on the floor. “This is meant to look like peanut butter, but it's actually icing because we have some nut allergies in the house,” she reflects. “That's something that we figured out the hard way.”
“A producer makes it happen,” continues Barlow of her catchall job title. “We pull the vision out of the designer's brain and translate it into reality.” And with the week’s full roster of shows, only so much can be done in advance. Her colleague jumps in to note he received an email from her at 4 a.m. this morning, but she’s been on location since 3 o’clock. “Whenever things go wrong, I'm responsible for fixing said issues,” she details. The commander-in-chief has already put out many fires today, noting they initially began about two hours behind schedule. “Now we're like 10 minutes behind.” And in the fashion world, that’s early.
Photo: Courtesy of Puppets and Puppets
Today, Barlow is dressed in head-to-toe black, as is customary for backstage patrons, but inconspicuous she is not. She wears a Wardrobe.NYC t-shirt paired with an asymmetrical Comme Des Garçons midi skirt, black tights, and leopard-print Marni ballet flats. A number of silver necklaces adorn her neck, a black Alaïa heart back hangs across her torso, and a checkered claw clip keeps her straight black hair out of the way. Most notable though, are a pair of black-and-white check Willy-Wonka-style sunglasses, which remain on her face the whole morning, despite being indoors).
The creative force of nature spent years running production at Spring Studios, which essentially followed Bryant Park as the de facto home of New York Fashion Week, crafting blank rooms to fit the needs of individual designers. Then, she worked at the revolutionary Bureau Betak with the city’s fashion power players like Michael Kors and Alexander Wang. The latter was her first client after branching out on her own. Now, her clientele ranges from Adidas to Lanvin and of course, Puppets and Puppets.
Photo: Courtesy of Puppets and Puppets
“We’re opening doors in five minutes,” she bellows. “Clean up the lettuce!” The set designer drizzles last minute marmalade on her masterpieces as assistants debate whether a trash bag is part of the set or actual trash—the former was decided upon. Soon, the front doors open and guests trickle in. The front row hosts everyone from Orville Peck to Richie Shazam to Lynn Yaeger. After notable editors, influencers, friends and buyers conclude instagramming photos of the wacky props, they take their seat for the show to begin.
Today, Barlow takes the place of pusher for the show. That means she stands backstage responding to her front-of-house correspondent and Barlow and Sons Chief Production Officer Duda Ramos's calls for the next model. (You don’t actually push the models, Barlow assures me). Ramos, her caller for today, holds a sheet of pre-timed, by-the-second lighting, music, and model cues, but the whole point of their roles at the moment is to adjust in the moment to keep the show running as fluidly as possible.
Producer Alice Barlow of Barlow & Sons.
Photo: Sarah Lou Kiernan
"Music go," Ramos speaks into her headset. "Lights go." The first model traipses into the crowd, this time clad in a darkly romantic dress embellished with rosettes rather than her streetwear. The models remember Barlow's instructions and adhere to the rhythm she and Ramos have set. Now, I remember none of those cues I've watched them practice, but am instead transported into the designer's fabulously weird world for the duration of the show. Once puppet master Mark finished her finale walk, she is met with screams of joy from all parties involved—hair and makeup, models, PR, and production. The energy palpable, you’d have no idea some of them had been at this for so many hours for this quick presentation of art, fashion, and creativity. The whole thing lasted about 11 minutes.