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!!)

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

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