There Will Be Swag

"Inspired by Daniel Plainview, protagonist of the film 'There Will Be Blood'," read the production notes for the Oumlil Fall/Winter ‘09 runway show. "He is a man of singular vision, moving with cunning and determination through the oil rich American West at the Turn of the Century." I didn't quite understand the correlation between what came across the runway and these words.

Looking around, I realized the crowd itself was full of men who moved with cunning and determination combing every chic seat to grab designer gift bags before the rightful owner could claim them. Their singular vision enabled them to snatch up as many as five of the fabled swag bags, notoriously hot items during fashion week. The Oumlil gifties included cd's, a book, and a hundred dollars worth of beauty supplies, all of which the Daniel Plainviews in attendance picked through, leaving discarded bags rustling down the empty runway like American frontier tumbleweeds.