For the second season in a row, I had the privilege of being a part of the Number 4 Hair Care Pro Team working on the Juan Carlos Obando show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Being someone who loves fashion, obsesses over hairstyles in magazines, and who loves finding any excuse to visit New York, this is just about a dream scenario for me.

This time did not disappoint. The clothes were amazing, the hair was beautiful, and of course, New York was the perfect backdrop for the whole experience.

I arrived two days early so I would be ready to attend the hair test first thing the morning before the show. Juan Carlos, or “JC," as we call him, was working with Swarovski as his sponsor, and we were told to be at their corporate offices that morning. I love this part of the weekend, because this is where I get to be a fly on the wall while JC is busily fitting models, teams of uber-stylish assistants are pounding away on laptops, others are confirming models with agencies, seamstresses are sitting on the floor hemming skirts and sewing delicate Swarovski crystals onto silk gowns, and best of all, Didier Malige is there.

Didier is the lead stylist for JC’s show, as well as being one of the most accomplished hairdressers I can name. Google him. His list of Vogue covers and national campaigns is kind of mind blowing. I get star struck when he’s around, because in my business you can’t ask for a better career than he is having. I walk in and say my hellos to JC and Didier, then assume my fly-on-the wall perch while Didier prepares to create the look for the show the next day.

The process is a collaboration between JC, Didier, Lawren Howell, a Vogue fashion editor who is styling the show, and Fulvia Farolfi, the lead makeup artist with her own long list of accomplishments. We watch as Didier and his lead assistant David Von Cannon (who is having his own meteoric career rise these days) work on fulfilling JC’s vision for the hair to complement his collection.

His clothes this season were inspired by images from the Hubble Telescope, as well as his own creative interpretation of our fascination with outer space. Hand dyed swirls of color highlighted with crystals fill the racks in front of me. For the hair, JC and Lawren have a vision of a very soft, swept up knot of sorts, something that has the same feeling of outer-space swirls that the clothes possess.

Didier goes to work creating this soft, beautiful style and then hands the model over to Fulvia to work her magic. The finished look is simple and clean, the kind of thing that looks like anyone could achieve it, but in reality is the product of expert hands knowing just how to make it look effortless.

While Fulvia is working, Didier hands me an article from The New York Times about how hairdressers have come to be “celebrities” in their own right in cities like Los Angeles and New York, and about one L.A. stylist’s climb to be at that level. He tells me in his soft-spoken French accent that I need to pay attention to these things, and encourages me to keep working hard and to not be afraid to create a name for myself. He references David, his former assistant and now rockstar stylist on his own, who just recently shot Giselle for Harper’s Bazaar.

Wow. I just sit and nod and try not to show how much in awe I am of these guys. We chat about the other two shows Didier is working on this week, Victoria Beckham and Thakoon, about his 37 years of living in New York (though he is still entirely French), and about the days when he did Brooke Shield’s hair when she was only 12. This kind of candid chat with someone with his experience is probably my favorite part of the whole trip.

As the hair and makeup looks are finalized, JC tells us that a member of the Swarovski family has flown in from London to attend the show and will be at the studio any minute for a preview. Minutes later we watch as JC shows her each piece and describes his vision while a camera crew films the exchange. We are introduced to her and she shakes our hands. It’s hard to believe this is all happening to me in one day.

It’s nearing 11 a.m., as a car picks up Didier and David and they are off to another hair test for one of the other shows they are doing this weekend. I stay for most of the day in the studio with Zena, Didier’s other assistant, as we pull back each model’s hair as the afternoon of fittings rolls on. I watch JC and Lawren nail down final castings and fittings. By the time I leave, I feel like my head is going to burst with all I have seen and done, and it’s not even the day of the show yet!

The next morning, I jump in a cab and head down to Chelsea; JC is one of the designers who shows his collection every season at Milk Studios. Though most of the big names are at Lincoln Center, the more “downtown” labels like Peter Som, Erin Fetherston, Vena Cava and of course, JC Obando, show at Milk. This is the reason I am here, and it’s now time to step in and help the Number 4 team as much as I can.

We set up hair products on stations and get the room ready for the models and stylists. One by one the girls arrive, some of them directly from other shows where the hair has been styled completely differently and must be tamed into what we need to create our “disheveled knot." We are given three hours to get the looks done before the show starts, but my experience thus far is that usually we are standing around waiting for models half the time, and running around like crazy at the end trying to get them to the stage.

While I’m working on Marlena, a gorgeous Eastern European girl who reads a book as I do her hair, a film crew from Modern Salon TV asks me to describe the look we are creating. I try to pull out my best on-the-spot answer as I work, trying to forget there’s a camera guy standing there filming me.

Didier comes over and puts his final touches on each model before they are sent to makeup. After being asked questions about the products used to create the styles by the media people who swarm the backstage area before show time, I see that we have the models under control and that this season I actually can get out front and see the show!

I find the members of my salon staff who are there and we wait for the show to begin. The finished look is everything I could have hoped for. It’s amazing how chic and effortless the hair looks, the clothes are so beautifully crafted, and in the blink of an eye, it is over. It’s amazing how much time and prep work it takes to create a seven-minute show.

Once the pressure of the show is over, the Number 4 Hair Care staff gets together for a post-show party at the Maritime Hotel, a block from Milk Studios. JC is there, looking relaxed and pleased, and being his usual gracious self. I feel so lucky to get to step into this world of fashion if even for a couple of weekends a year, and be a part of where it all begins.

Not only does Fashion Week mark the trends in clothes for the next season, it’s also where the hair trends begin. I can’t wait to get home to Houston and back behind the chair where I can share my experiences with my clients and play with some new tricks I learned. I also take back the words of encouragement from Didier to work hard and reach for my dreams. I certainly have a lot to feel inspired by.

Can’t wait until February, where I get to do it all over again.

Crafton is owner and stylist at Craft Salon.