Rachel Pizzolato was mid-mascara, one side of her face done, when Madison announced the Uber was thirteen minutes away. It was Day 3 of Miami Swim Week, the official opening day of the runway shows, and nothing about the morning was going according to plan. But in the world of model logistics at one of the most chaotic fashion events on the calendar, ‘according to plan’ is mostly a rumor. The day ahead was packed: fittings for a Megan Thee Stallion show, open casting at the Mondrian hotel, pre-show facials and glam, and not one but two runway walks before midnight.
Fittings, croissants, and a squeaky heel
The first stop was fittings for Friday’s shows, where Rachel scored a white two-piece paired with brown kitten heels decorated with seashells. She was not a kitten heel person, by her own admission, but conceded they fit ‘like a part of my foot’ and floated the idea of sizing down to an eight from her usual ten. From there it was a quick Uber to the Mondrian, where designers had set up fittings upstairs, which Rachel noted was a logistical headache for anyone trying to find them. She and Madison worked the room together, pitching themselves to each designer table with a cheerful ‘Hi, good morning, do you like us or not?’ A pistachio croissant from a small cafe called Umami and a lavender latte served as lunch, eaten in a twenty-minute window back at the Airbnb before afternoon fittings resumed. The one genuine logistical crisis of the afternoon was a broken heel that kept clanking against the floor. Tape, she decided, was probably the answer.
Facials, bombshell hair, and a surprise booking
The pre-show prep area was a genuine upgrade from previous years: every artist had their own mirror, individual lighting, and a dedicated station. Rachel and Madison went robes-on for facials first, and Rachel nearly fell asleep on the table. Then hair stylist Axel took over, delivering what Rachel called ‘big bombshell hair,’ the kind of full-volume look she described as bringing out the ‘little pageant girl’ in her. Full-glam makeup followed, with lashes, bronze, blush, and setting spray applied specifically for Miami‘s punishing heat.
Then came the surprise. Thanks to a last-minute recommendation from someone named Laura, Rachel was added to the lineup for Amur Rinaldi, giving her two shows on a day she had originally prepared for one. The Amur Rinaldi look was a gold see-through top with a gold fringed bottom. Her first show outfit, from Lila Handmade Designs, featured a beaded design in what she called ‘the perfect color,’ worn with her Victoria’s Secret Bombshell Glow.
By 2:20 a.m., both shows were done. Madison had walked for a separate designer and both walked Lila Handmade Designs together. Rachel described it as ‘perfect,’ then added the detail that mattered most to her: she had eaten a significant amount of food and was ‘full as heck.’ She put it directly: ‘This is probably the biggest show I’ve ever done besides Guess in Switzerland.’
The heel that never got fixed
Somewhere in a bathroom near the runway, a broken kitten heel with seashell details was still clanking.
Rachel was back at the Airbnb well after 2:00 a.m., showered, and already thinking about the next morning. Megan Thee Stallion’s show was next, and she was saving TikTok sounds for it, the same way someone else might prep a speech.
