Thursday, February 4, 2010

These Bitches Must Be Stopped

High schooler Becca Shumlin, the daughter of one of Vermont's gubernatorial candidates, allegedly hacked into PR company BPCM's Fashion Week database. Her accomplice was her best friend, aspiring fashion designer and fellow high schooler Remy Renzullo. In a week when Kell on Earth debuted, revealing to the world the tech malfunctions (and meltdowns) that occur during Fashion Week, their story only suggests that planning shows is a task fraught with potential complications.

BPCM handles Alexander Wang, Preen, and Erin Fetherston, among other shows during Fashion Week. A source from the company told Gawker.com, "We were going through the guest lists of some of our tightest shows and saw that both Remy and Becca Shumlin were on ALL of the lists and no one knew how they got there." Tech wizards over there must have somehow determined the two had hacked into the BPCM database and added themselves to the list. When Gawker called Remy to ask if he was responsible he said yes, he was, along with Becca.

If that wasn't enough evidence to prove that these two really know what they're doing when it comes to getting into shows: They also appeared on the Sartorialist after Scott Schuman shot them at Fashion Week last season. Remy claims to have sold one of his dresses to Vogue contributor and socialite Lauren Santo Domingo. He was even snapped sitting front-row with her at the fall 2009 Brian Reyes show, looking anything but timid. In fact, they look like legitimate friends. Or cousins. Or something.
Kudos to these two for being not only brazen and fashion-hungry enough to crash the shows, but for venturing to the front row rather than cowering in the standing section. A rep from BPCM called Gawker, after their story went up today:

There's no way, she claims, that Remy and Becca could have gotten into the shows anyway: "We check our list so meticulously. I'm personally involved checking every single name on the list." She also denied our source's allegation that Remy had somehow hacked into the BPCM database. "It wasn't a hacking situation in any way shape or form. Somebody—probably an intern—tried to get them on a list, but we immediately saw it."


While we've never actually done it, we know people who have sneaked into shows fairly easily by flashing an index card and huddling past security with all the people waiting for standing section. So list-checking isn't always effective in keeping the riffraff out. And it's possible Becca actually received invitations to Wang, Preen, Cushnie et Ochs, and Erin Fetherston, as she claimed on her Twitter, perhaps they didn't "immediately" see their names on the list among many hundreds.

It was almost a perfect Fashion Week heist for the high school seniors. Becca's big mistake was sending an e-mail to BPCM asking for tickets to the Herchcovitch show before allegedly hacking the system. "I work as a freelance stylist, currently working with the future first lady, Deborah Shumlin, of Vermont for the campaign trail and hopefully elected office," Becca wrote. "In addition I have been signed on to contribute to a new fashion magazine, FUTURE." See, a political stylist doesn't go to the Herchcovitch show, of all things. And you don't even have to google "FUTURE" to know it's either made up or produced in the basement of some kid's mansion.

The kids may have been thwarted for now, but we have a feeling we'll see them at Fashion Week. They owe it to Fashion Week crashers everywhere.

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