DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles' Fashion Week events kick off in earnest next week, and one of the design houses prepping for the runway is Downtown's SKINGRAFT. We asked co-owner and designer Katie Kay to shed a little light on what that means for her.

It is upon us once again... it's nearly time for Los Angeles Fashion Week. For any designer showing, the weeks leading up to the main event are always full of triumph and heartbreak, success and moments of utter insanity.

We are four days away from our second season showing in the "Fashion Week" format. Following this schedule a designer has six months to design, manufacture, market and produce a presentation, before taking a few days to breath and start it all again.

Once the venue is chosen, the final weeks consist of preparing the looks, casting models and then fitting them, which inevitably leads to negotiations with the agencies. Next up we choose music andlighting, design programs and invites, work with our PR team to contact press and oversee seating charts to make sure everyone is happy with placement... The list goes on and on.

Being such a small operation, like many of our colleagues, we do nearly everything in-house. We also do one-of-a-kind "couture" pieces, made by hand here in Los Angeles, in addition to our production line which is available in stores. That takes our workload through the roof.

Despite what an undertaking the entire process is, that moment the beat drops and the opening model takes her first steps the rush of adrenaline is better then any drug.

This season over 500 members of the press, store buyers and our closest friends and family will be waiting patiently, seated in perfect rows, waiting to see what we've done with our lives-- and if we fall short you'll surely read about it for weeks in the papers. When the final walk happens I am nearly in tears and have to pull it together fast -- it's time for post-show interviews...

SKINGRAFT shows on Tuesday evening, October 13, as part of Downtown Los Angeles Fashion Week.