10 September 2021

Part I: Every time I read or hear 9/11, pictures from my mind pop up, pictures from...

Part II - Fashion.at's Karin Sawetz remembers New York Fashion Week 20 years ago

"We have a dilemma," said the man at around 8.45 to the people in the queue waiting for the first elevator to the observation platform of the Empire State building, "Please leave the building."

We waited with others in the basement of the Empire State building for the first elevator of the day to the observation platform. I remember the discussion with my assistant one day before on 10th September about choosing a location for making atmospheric pictures for our report from the fashion week. The reason for our travel from Vienna to New York was to provide insights into presentations of Austrians respectively in Austria based designers at NYFW and interviews with American designers and impressions of shows and backstage. Additionally, Fashion.at visited stores and landmarks for the New York Fashion Week documentary. I planned everything and as I had visited the Empire State building already in former years, I proposed to take atmospheric panorama pictures from the World Trade Center. Fortunately my assistant was against my plan as she had never been before at the Empire State Building. She had her own to-do list and I was flexibel.

We left the Gramercy Park Hotel at around 8:00 in the morning and walked in the direction of the Empire State Building. At Starbucks, we had coffee. I can remember the innumerable different coffees - I only wanted coffee. We drank our coffee while talking about the schedule of the day. It was ca. 8:40 when we were inside the Empire State building. After a while standing in the queue at the elevator, we heard people screaming. It sounded as if something had happened. We wondered what. A missed train? We didn't even know if there was a train station. "We have a dilemma," said the man at the elevator and instructed us to leave the building.

When we arrived on the street, we still didn't know what happened. My phone rang. It was my brother asking if we are alright. I asked him, why not. Then he told me that an airplane flew into one of the twin towers. I said that this can't be because the sky is blue and the sight is perfectly clear. He told me that it might be an attack and that we should keep away from high buildings.

On 11th September and the following days that I stayed in Manhattan, I saw another side of the city and its citizens which was powered by togetherness and solidarity. I loved New York already before 11th September 2001 - and after that I had even more good reasons than before.

Images: Pictures from one of the video reports Fashion.at made in September 2001 in New York City.