That is, unless a very powerful hand can change the calendar to his or her liking… And it is happening right now in Milan!

During New York fashion week, rumor was going around that a very powerful editor of a very famous American magazine had the Milan catwalk calendar changed to fit her schedule.

Though it is hard to believe, and this is a piece of history already, that same editor also had a hand in changing the Paris Prêt-a-Porter runway show calendar a few years back, again to fit her schedule.

What happened in Paris is repeating itself in Milan – a bunch of very tired, bleary-eyed writers and photographers because of the long hours spent in one day to cover the shows.

The Milan season is officially 10 days, and usually the important shows and presentations are spread throughout the week. With the change, there are now 69 shows to be covered in a matter of FIVE days!

For high-powered editors, that is nothing because they usually have a staff to cover the shows. They do not experience the rigors, heartaches and tired feet at the end of a 12-hour day plus 3 more hours to write and edit the articles.

In short, it is their staff, and of course, the writers and photographers from smaller publications who suffer, trying to keep up with the season, which incidentally, to most us started September 9 in New York.

Milan, like its sister cities – New York and Paris, also has a lot of presentations being held during the week. But, unlike New York and Paris wherein a journalist has a choice of not going to a presentation, it is not the case in Milan.

Attending a presentation is a must because the city does not have a formal ‘accessories week,’ which is the case in New York and Paris.

Skipping a presentation for accessories in Milan means skipping a very big part of the season. Skipping a presentation in New York or Paris mean they HAVE to visit the showroom during the Accessories season.

So, with the change in the Milan calendar, that means working journalists and photographers have to do ‘double time’ so that they can finish their assignments.

On the other hand, the high-powered editors can just go and attend the shows they want and of course be treated like royalty, while the rest of the ‘peasants’ are working. Sounds like the medieval ages, but that is very true this season.

So, on the fifth day of the shows and the third city in a row, the ‘working’ journalists and photographers have had an average of 5 hours of sleep and no day off except when on a plane traveling from city to city!

We have all said at one time that we have to be a little crazy to do this job! Maybe we are! Yet, the truth of the matter is … we are just professionals doing our jobs and no matter how challenging or tiring it looks from where we are sitting, we will still get the news out!