How does a 10-year old fashionista score a trip to New York Fashion Week? Sometimes, it’s who you know!

Her uncle is none other than Carey Reddick, II, Owner and Chief Designer of Above-Time, Inc, the San Diego-based accessories brand company.

“My uncles know that I like fashion and surprised me with this trip. They worked it out first with my mom and dad,” Tiffany explained.

As Tiffany’s Auntie, I didn’t know of her fashionista tendencies until last summer on our family trip to Yosemite and Mammoth Lakes. We all stayed in a 7-bedroom condo in Mammoth. As I got ready for bed sporting my cool, pink boxer shorts, Tiffany piped up and asked “Are you wearing granny-panties, Aunt Terri?”

Suppressing a grin, and trying to look serious, I simply said, “Umm, yes…” then asked, “what do you know about granny panties?” My sis-in-law announced that Tiffany just knows this stuff, as I slinked under the covers of our sofa bed.

Tiffany is one of the adopted daughters of my other brother and his wife. She and her older sister have come a very long way from their earlier life as abused children placed in foster care. Read more about their story We Chose You.

Tiffany and the Above-Time crew were scheduled to travel on Thursday Feb. 9th for a leisurely flight from San Diego to New York City. Abruptly their plans changed when the winter storm of the season slammed into the New York and New England areas on February 8th.

The New York Times reported, “Up to 14 inches of snow fell across the New York area, with nine inches blanketing Central Park, the biggest snowfall of the winter. Schools were closed in the city and many of its suburbs.”

Reddick spent hours dealing with flight changes that involved planes, trains and automobiles to safely navigate one of the worst winter storms in the Northeast since 2015. Getting his entire crew there in time for their first-ever NYFW event Thursday night didn’t happen.

“We had to postpone the handbag launch, because some of our team couldn’t make it to NYC in time,” Reddick explained. “Luckily the storm moved through quickly and we were able to attend Thursday’s first fashion show.”

But not without a LONG day of travel that began Wednesday night at 11:00pm (well after Tiffany’s bedtime). Tiffany admitted she was a little scared with the crazy schedule change and this being her first plane ride, but she thought “the liftoff was awesome. After liftoff, I was out like a bug!” She was able to sleep on the plane and a bit on the train ride from Philadelphia.

“We took an Uber car from the airport to a house in Brooklyn,” Tiffany explained. “The worst part was we had to walk in the snow. One of my uncle’s co-workers wore open-toed boots!”

Above-Time was initially invited to New York Fashion Week as a result of meeting key people during Fashion Week San Diego.

Reddick’s goal was to attend nine shows, the first being “Rich” by Richie Rich. Tiffany wore her favorite outfit, “a gray shirt with gold lines in it, black pants with a gold design, a red leather jacket and black boots (seen in the first photo).”

Friday was launch day of the new line of handbags, that included a photo shoot and runway show.

Tiffany’s impression? “On the launch day, I got to model a backpack. It was boring because no one asked me questions (about it).”

Reddick scored a major promotional opportunity with Richard Magazine, which will soon promote Above-Time products on their affiliate websites. The team recently flew back to NYC for a follow-up visit to work out details.

In Reddick’s estimation, New York Fashion Week was a resounding success. They met a buyer in New York who wants to sell the handbag line in her boutique.

The jewel in the fashion week trifecta crown? An invitation to attend London Fashion Week in September!

“This is BIG,” says Reddick, “Fashion Week in London is just a notch below the famed fashion weeks in Paris, Rome and Milan!”

Reddick is no stranger to networking and promoting the Above-Time brand. “My crew and I made it a point to visit and connect with every producer of the nine shows we attended. One was impressed enough to hand us that London invitation!”

Much of the fashion business and excitement was lost on a tired Tiffany. “Later that day (launch day), we went to another fashion show. It was so cool, because the models were dramatic and the music was loud. The runway was lit up and shiny. We got a bag of stuff and I ate the chips! Once that was over, Chloe (a staff assistant), took me back home in the Uber car and I went straight to bed.”

Click this link for Above-Time’s video of NYFW.

If some of Tiffany’s favorite things about fashion week were getting out of school and avoiding chores, and of course, the clothes and music, her least favorite thing was the snow—not surprising to hear this from a California girl!

“Even though it was my first time there, I want to go back some day. Maybe I can convince my mom to let me go to London Fashion Week in the fall!”

Surprisingly, as much as Tiffany loves fashion and is a bit of a fashionista herself, right now she is not interested in a career in fashion.

At the end of the trip, an unaffected Tiffany shared her final thoughts on the flight home. “It was fun going through the metal detector. After that I got a chocolate muffin and watched TV on the plane ride home.”

The simple things are just plain fun for a 10-year old fashionista.

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For more on fashion, please visit these fellow bloggers.

Jodie blogs about midlife fashion at Jodie’s Touch of Style. A recent post includes a men’s fashion piece, Another Day in Rob’s World.

Cathy Lawdanski, My Side of 50, includes posts about fashion, in Lessons Learned From my Favorite Fashion Bloggers.

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Note: All images were provided by Above-Time staff and post-edited for purposes of this article.

Although this is a sponsored post, the intent of this article is not to sell a product, but to focus attention and awareness on the growth and evolution of the Above-Time brand. Opinions are my own.