It’s a party in the front and all business in the back. The New York Fashion Week tents in Lincoln Center draw the most glamorous creatures, but unbeknownst to most, behind the scenes is a sophisticated security operation that would make Fort Knox seem lax.
“I wish I were young and single,” says Tom Carney, who has worked at the tents for 20 years. “I could tell the ladies about Nicole Miller, Betsey Johnson and Anna Sui.”
Carney is just one of Citadel Security Agency’s guards — who stand out from the preening fashionistas in designer duds — with their basic black blazers and outer-borough accents.
The firm has guarded the biannual style showcase since 1993, overseeing the safety of the Big Apple fashion world through the Gianni Versace murder, 9/11, PETA protests, pushy show crashers — and even a live black leopard on the runway.
“Years ago, Donald Trump was all over Fashion Week, and there were more supermodels,” says David Yorio, a Georgetown MBA who runs the company with his CEO father, Ty, a retired NYPD homicide detective. “Now it’s reality TV starlets . . . We even need to Google photos of them because the guards won’t always know who they are,” he adds.
The company staffs the tents with anywhere from 70 to 110 guards (some of whom are armed) and 80 security cameras, which are monitored in a main control room that is behind a padlocked door. The room is decorated with lists of important editors, celebrities — and those who have been banned from the tents. The guards are expected to know them all by face.
Some imposters are so desperate for the high life, they have been caught forging credentials, which is grounds for a ban. Crashers hoping to bypass the guards, be warned: The men in black know who you are.
“They walk too fast. They never look you in the eye, and they are dressed a little crazy, even for Fashion Week,” says Carney.
While some less popular designers welcome crashers to fill seats, certain designers have a tighter door than a G-20 summit.
The guards agree that the DVF, Anna Sui, Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs shows are the most exclusive.
Former NYPD cop Mike Carney (Tom’s brother), 53, says Russell Simmons is well-liked because he chats up the guards and doesn’t demand special treatment for his guests.
Not so much? That would be rapper 50 Cent and his huge entourage, and Britney Spears, who once held up a show for so long that people started leaving the venue.
“Her SUV was stuck in traffic, and the entire venue waited for her to arrive. No one was happy about that,” says Mike Carney.
Tom also recalls one of the most terrifying runway moments. “Diesel once had a live black leopard on the runway. They told everyone to be quiet or the leopard would be spooked. I said, ‘Are you crazy? This is a fashion show! By definition it is loud.’ Luckily, we made it through alive.”
And then there’s the inevitable security slip-up.
Mike Carney says J.Lo, entering through a back door with three bodyguards, once told the ex-cop she would give the photographers one good shot. As he cleared the way, a “little man” snuck in. “I couldn’t figure out how he got in there, so I yelled at him. He told me he was J.Lo’s husband, Marc Anthony. I was so embarrassed.”
Just as designers keep up with seasonal trends, Citadel has to react to events erupting in the fashion world.
When Marc Jacobs’ collection was stolen on a train from London to Paris in 2011, it prompted Citadel to guard the clothes at New York Fashion Week, too. “We are literally in the truck with the clothes from door to door,” says David Yorio.
And there are the safety scares.
“After Versace was killed, we were on high alert. Luckily, we haven’t had that kind of threat in a while,” says David. Though the Boston bombing has led to an extra measure of precaution — bomb-sniffing dogs.
After all, the 9/11 attacks happened while New York Fashion Week was in full swing. Mike Carney was with Oscar de la Renta backstage before his show kicked off when a fellow guard — a former counter-terrorism cop — got a devastating call.
“He said, ‘A plane just hit the Trade Center,’ ” Carney recalls. “Oscar turned to him and said calmly, ‘My show’s not going to happen, is it?’ [My colleague] looked at him and said, ‘No, I don’t think it is.’ Oscar said, with grace, ‘Let’s get everyone safe.’ We evacuated everyone from the venue immediately, and turned it into a Salvation Army Center with water and supplies for the first responders.”