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The Five Most Shameless Show Crashers of Fashion Weeks Past

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Notorious show-crasher Pandemonia via Getty
Yesterday's news about the two men who tried to crash Fashion Week by pretending to work for Governor Cuomo was just the latest in a line of stories about imposters going to crazy lengths in order to watch a runway show or two. Ranked in no particular order, we give the five most creative crashers of fashion weeks past. Kids, please don't try this at home.

5.) Elektra from Vice was technically invited to London's Topshop Unique show. Elektra from Vice on acid, however, was not. Escorted into the show by Vice writers Jamie Lee Curtis Taete and Jim Clarke, she hallucinates her way into second row seats, through deep concern for the model's frailty, and into an encounter with Naomi Campbell, the latter of which understandably sent her into a bad trip. Don't read this article in a public place; your muffled giggles will make others think you're on something.

4.) Who could forget those lovable tots who used basic hacking skills to put their name on some of biggest NYFW '10 lists? Becca Shumlin and Remy Renzullo were but high school kids who could hardly wait to reach the big leagues. Perhaps they had to go to such extremes (really, people get in by looking so over it while wearing a leotard) because their baby faces were free of that Fashion Week stress-induced wrinklage.

3.) Peter Gianquito proves that once a crasher, always a crasher. We first heard of Gianquinto when he and a friend claimed to be Matt Damon's rep to get into L.A.M.B. show last year, but he has also posed as a rep for the Rolling Stones and as Elton John's manager in hopes of securing a dinner at the Four Seasons. And that's not all. According to Page Six, back in the 90's he would name-drop Sid Bernstein, a famous Beatles promoter he befriended under a pseudonym, to get into concerts. Gianquinto gets points for creative (insane?) tactics and little thing called persistence.

2. Back in September, three girls outfitted in Lolita gear talked their way into Tom Ford's super-exclusive presentation by—get this—posing as Vogue Japan's Mitsuko Watanabe even though —no seriously, get this—Watanabe WAS ALREADY INSIDE. The three built up to this crash of all crashes by impersonating the A Girls, a pop group also from Japan, to gain access to various other parties throughout the week.

1.) Sometimes crashers turn from their naughty ways and make something of themselves. And sometimes they dress up as a seven-foot-tall latex clad blow-up doll in order to do so. That's what happened with Pandemonia, an anonymous interactive (read: living, breathing human) art-installation-turned-social phenomenon. She began populating galleries in London a few years ago, started crashing shows, and then was welcomed into the first row. Oh, those crazy Brits.
· Failed Fashion Week Crashers Pretended to Work for Gov. Cuomo [Racked NY]