PARIS, Jan 27, 2004/ FW/ --- As I sat at Charles De Gaulle airport and the eventual 9-hour flight from Paris to Dallas, my thoughts were filled with fashion, as expected.

The Fall 2004 fashion season is now in full swing, with both the Milan and Paris menswear shows done, and of course, the Spring 2004 Haute Couture season also done.

Next is New York, which will start on February 6. The opening day of New York Fashion Week marks the beginning of the womenswear ready-to-wear season, which will travel in four cities.

New York, London, Milan and Paris – in that order, plus Los Angeles Fashion Week in late March, which we also cover. Added all together, that’s almost 6 weeks of grueling work, surviving only on adrenaline and not much more.

Days are long, with working hours at least 10 (if we are lucky) and 12 if it is a truly long day at the shows. Then the writing of the stories and photo editing at the end of the day, making a total of a 16-hour work day, with no days off except when we are in a plane traveling to the next city.

So, why do we do this? What on earth make us get up every morning with barely 6 hours of sleep and then go to the shows over and over again?

“We have to be a little bit crazy to do this job,” Javier Mateo, our photographer told me once. I guess he is right. Not everyone is cut out for this type of job.

Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune comes to mind when I think of fashion journalists. She has been covering the fashion beat for decades, yet every time I see her at the shows, there is certain lightness on her feet. She lives and breathes fashion! She is a very admirable person in her dedication in promoting the fashion industry.

And on the other end of the spectrum, are those who “pretend” to be fashion reporters, but all they want are just to be “seen” at certain shows, so that they can brag to their friends.

I had the misfortune of meeting one such person here in Paris. And all I feel is pity for that person, this “fashion groupie” who was just lucky enough to get a press card.

This fashion groupie will only see 5 shows out of 40 and proud of it, leaving the rest of the team of four sent to cover the rest of shows. Divided evenly, everyone should cover 10 shows.

But not for this fashion groupie, who believes that the other members of the team are not important enough.

“I only go to the shows that I want,” this fashion groupie told me. When I asked what the editor of the magazine says, this fashion groupie’s answer was, “Let the other team members take care of the rest of the shows. Those shows are not important anyway. Just small designers at best.”

To be truthful, I was shocked and surprised by this fashion groupie’s point of view. As an editor myself, I know how much it costs to cover the shows. Photographers and writers have to be paid, plus all the expenses they incur such as airfare, meals and hotels.

Added to that, all designers were “emerging” at one point in their career. John Galliano is one example. When he was just beginning, he was practically penniless, saving all the earnings he got from his previous show so that he can finance the next one.

With his great talent and hard work, he is one of the top fashion designers today. And thanks to the fashion press who continually covered him when he was just an “emerging” designer, John Galliano is who he is today.

If the “fashion groupie pretending to be reporter” were around during that time, John Galliano would not be on this fashion groupie’s list!

All I can do while I was listening to this fashion groupie was silently commiserate with the poor editor this fashion groupie works for.

The editor and the magazine are getting a raw deal from this fashion groupie who pretends to be a writer.

This fashion groupie also gives the rest of the fashion press a bad name. Remember the saying, “One bad apple can destroy the whole basket.”

A lot of fashion journalists, who include editors, writers and photographers truly love fashion, working those long days during the season.

They take the cab, or the subway, or the press busses to get from show to show, covering both established design houses and those who are just beginning.

At the end of the day or night, it was an honest workday for all of them. I strive to be part of this group of fashion journalists. I see Suzy Menkes as the role model for every serious fashion reporter. And hopefully, someday, when I have proven my worth, someone will recognize the hard work that all of us here at FashionWindows have done.

Going back to the fashion groupie, I politely bowed out from our conversation when a good break occurred, hoping silently that this fashion groupie will be the last one I will meet in this wonderful world of fashion I live in.