How to solve a fashion emergency in 2 hours with Uber

In partnership with Uber

Day three, maybe four. I’ve stopped counting. My camera roll is full, my shoulders ache, and I’m beginning to understand what survival mode looks like in a wardrobe context. Somewhere between the fourth show and a late lunch that never happened, I spilled coffee down the front of my only clean white T-shirt. The universe has a sense of humour.

Normally, this would mark the beginning of a breakdown – a moment of pleading with the dry cleaner or raiding the RUSSH fashion closet for something that passes as intentional. But this time, I remembered Uber. Or more specifically, Uber Direct – a fast delivery service that doesn’t feel like a service at all, just someone quietly helping you hold it all together.

What’s different about Uber’s fast delivery is that it doesn’t feel like shopping. There’s no app switch, no third-party stress. You order like normal – through the brand’s site – and just select the same-day option at checkout. It’s Uber, but behind the scenes. Invisible, but immediate. There’s something comforting about that when your inbox is a mess and your phone battery is on two per cent.

There’s also no shortage of brands to choose from either. Though I certainly didn’t have the time, I took a moment to scroll through some of my favourite retailers who also offer the service. Zimmerman, jac + jack, Neuw, Rollas, Cue and Decjuba all had great options, but ultimately, I found my salvation at Incu. Thankfully, I placed my order during the 10-4pm order window and received it in record time. Classic. Clean. Fresh in under an hour, handed to me by a courier who didn’t ask questions (thank god). I swapped it on the office couch, hid the evidence, and carried on like nothing had happened. Somehow, making it back to Carriageworks and straight into the Iordanes Spyridon Gogos show just in time.

Though, the day must have been cursed, because only a couple of hours later, another RUSSH team member found herself with a dilemma of similar proportions. In the chaos of Australian Fashion Week, Olivia, our creative studios & campaign manager had missed an all-important dress code memo on the Albus Lumen show invitation – black tie. To make the situation even more complex, she was heading backstage before the show to photograph the collection before it headed out on the runway. She needed something that moved. Something she could crouch in, shoot in, exist in, without looking like a production assistant.

Once again, Incu came to her rescue. She quickly scrolled the website and immediately spotted a black drop-waist dress and a perfect pair of Mary Janes with a braided strap. The ideal alternative to her chic – but not black tie – outfit of crisp denim, a fail-safe Uniqlo knit and trusty Docs.

Not long after placing her order, a text message update from Uber advised her that her delivery was just 11 minutes away (a delivery time that’s faster than driving to your local shopping centre), and she was refreshed, changed and out the door all in under an hour. Ready to shoot – and sit front row – at Albus Lumen’s milestone 10-year anniversary show.

Fashion week, in all its madness, has a way of stripping everything back. Style stops being about aspiration and starts becoming about instinct. You wear what works. You wear what arrives in time. You wear what makes you feel – even briefly – like you’re holding it together.

And if all else fails, there’s Uber.