LFW (Part 2)

The last few days wern’t quite as busy in terms of shows as the first but still plenty to do. On the Sunday the first show I dressed I was given a male model with two outfit changes for the talented designer Nivedita Saboo which was a shared catwalk between three different designers which meant it was pretty hectic backstage. The other two designers hadn’t allocated enough dresses so I ended up dressing around 4 different models, it was insanely stressful but also such a rush!

Here’s one of the beautiful dresses by Saboo, and the male model (Henry) who I was assigned to dress. Saboo’s clothing are smart courture pieces for men and women.

img_0717img_0770

The next show was a two hour ‘walk in’ show by RUN clothing where the models would stand in different positions and walk around every now and again. It was open for people to walk in and out and around the exhibiton, this gave everyone the chance to have a close look at the clothing in detail.

img_0779 img_0783 img_0782

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another show I was given the role to steam whilst I was waiting to dress for another show. The material of the collection that I was assgined to steam was a netted fabric with many creases in it, this took over an hour to steam but the outcome was worth it. It was a collection by the designer Malan Breton from New York. img_0722  img_0742img_0774

The collection coniststed of many structured clothing such as blazers and suit trousers with a decorative use of materials. Also some flamboyant floaty pieces paired with trousers to keep that structured theme throughout the collection. This collection had one of my favo urite pieces from the whole weekend which was this head to toe sequined women’s blazer suit.

img_0746

LFW backstage volunteer for Fashion Scout (Part 1)

Where do I begin?? I’m so glad I got the chance to volunteer backstage for Fashion Scout during London fashion week which was located in the Freemasons Hall in Covent Garden. From getting the opportunity to chat to countless designers, stylists and models to steaming and handling their precious collections, I had the best hands on experience in the fashion industry as I could imagine. I was placed in group B which meant I was working 2pm-9pm most evenings, I was so lucky as those were usually the busiest hours of the day so I got the chance to see everything in full swing stress mode, which as the days went on I realised were the most cruical time of a fashion show. My role was mainly to dress the models before and during the shows, we were assigned a model and given instructions on how the garments were placed, this was always so interesting as you got to see the different elements of each designers collection. As the dressing aspect of the show was the most fun and also most stressful, especially if your model had three changes and only one minute to do each!!! We had other roles to do such as steaming, packing and organsing the clothes to each individual model which was somehow just as exciting due to the fact we got the see and handle the collection before anyone else.

The first show I was dressing was the designer Angel Chen’s incredible collection. I was assigned three models, two females with two looks each and a male with one look, luckly I had the help of another volunteering otherwise I dont think it would have been possible!

(Beware I took MANY photographs!!)

img_0605 img_0606 img_0607

These were the three models I was given with their given looks, these images really helped us dressers to remember how the finish outcome should look. This collection, apart from being amazing, was simple to dress as they were never more than a dress or a top and trousers but the destressed tights were a challenge in the short time we had but we succesfully managed them.  Angel Chen collaborated with Vittorio Ceccoli’s stunning jewelry headpieces to finish off her collection for the runway.

img_0609 img_0599

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was only the second day and I had be chosen to dress a German supermodel in the Rohmir show. I was so nervous when I was told she was a supermodel but also so happy that I was chosen to dress her. The only problem I had was that she was a twin who was also modelling in the same show and were walking one behind the other, so dressing the right one when she got off was my main worry! Rohmir is a privetly owned luxury brand that specialises in beautiful gowns.

img_0654 img_0659 img_0662 img_0665

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Freemason’s hall has two runways, one called the gallery which had very little space backstage but a huge white runway with white benches which looked amazing and upstairs was the vestibule which had more of an insentric vibe with black gates and wooden flooring. Backstage was always the most hectic place to be with not only the stylist, models and dressers but also the make-up and hair team and photographers all trying to get at the models. One word to describe the atmosphere, exhilarating!!!

If we were lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time you were able to dress multible shows in one day. I made sure I was always ready dress as it was one of the most exiting things i’ve ever done and could’nt wait to do it again. The next show I dressed was in the late evening, the collection was by the designer Han Wen who won the merit award. His collection was by far my favourite I had seen. The collection was unlike anything I have seen before, it had so many different elements to each look. The designer was very very particualr on how the final outcome would be presented, it was definitely the hardest collection to dress as there were so many components on each individual look.

We were given thorough instructions on how to place the garments on. This was the first look I did which I loved along with another three which I also helped dress, they had so many materials and components such as leather, buckles, studs, sheer and pleats which really showed the designers amazing talent and creativity.

img_0673img_0678 img_0679 img_0682

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also got to watch the models rehersing in the collection’s shoes as they were very difficult to walk after speaking to the models they all seemed very keen/nervous to practise before the show, there were a few falls but luckly it was only in rehersals and the show went perfectly.

img_0683

img_0690Here’s a photo of the designer Han Wen with all his models in the collection after the show.