Marsha Goes to Hollywood: Casablanca Complete

Ahhh, Casablanca. The city of mystery, danger and romance. But no one told me about the 100 lbs. of sand that we would have to wade through to get there! Seriously, no lie- If I had only had a camel.

This year we hosted our 2009 AKIRA Spring runway show in a raw warehouse space at a concealed location in the West Loop of Chicago. This space truly was a diamond in the rough. When we received the space (post-sandblast), sand- sand everywhere! This was a non-intentional fluke, but life always has its wonderful surprises. We busted out our dust masks and swept through that space with not a spec of sand remaining on the warehouse floor. I mean… we said we wanted desert. Unbelievable.

My styling assistant reversed while assessing the space and stumbled upon a dead finch. I gasped --- "it's an omen". I just heard the hollowed words of the babysitter in The Omen, thinking...hmm... there are a lot of glass windows here "ITS ALL FOR YOU JON COTAY".

After all was said and done. The hustle and bustle backstage was incredible. Twenty-five gorgeous FORD models pranced the runway in desert-clad creations from Anna Sui accented by fabulous new trends in denim from Paige Premium Denim. Bjorn Borg swimwear made its debut in North America on my runway, how exciting! Along with primary sponsor Steve Madden, showing their spring collection on the runway, my personal faves: Thierry snakeskin lace-up heels and Desyrre sexy suede open-toe booties. Pre-show we screened a fabulous new campaign video that featured two FORD models falling in love and setting the tone for the show, you should have seen them at the after-party. Just give the models a few ounces of Hennessy and watch the fireworks. Wild.

Last minute we flew in our fan favorite model Leesa Martin for a special guest surprise. She was working in Miami for this past winter season passing her time in the sunshine. It was great to have her sexy walk back on my runway in Chicago. Oh the jealousy of other models-- Leesa is always my show closer but I am sure there were a few girls with a different opinion.

Red lips and 40's Veronica Lake-inspired locks bounced down the runway. Well...all except one. Wet fingerwaves..... not so much. Beware of wet fingerwaves dripping down the neck of a model. She was not a happy camper, dragging her off the ceiling before the show was F-U-N. All I had to say was "somebody get a towel".

Now that the adventure of Casablanca has come to a very peaceful ending, I am relieved to say that it was a tremendous success. Post-production here we come. Everybody wants the video- everybody wants the pictures. But when you have 12 cameras and 10 photogs it ain't that simple Annabelle. Look out for the video coming soon toshop.akirachicago.com. For now you can watch Kim Kardashian in our archive videos looking like a dummy on the runway. Always a fun instant replay.