Day 2 kicked off with me in a London black cab, retouching my Ruby Woo lipstick, tapping my foot continuously and nervously checking my iPhone’s clock every 3 seconds as the cab swerved around to get to Freemason’s Hall for the Hellen van Rees presentation show at 11am (Thank you World Triathlon 2013 for being on this weekend and getting all the roads closed!). I managed to arrive just a couple of minutes before 11; with my camera at the ready and my invitation in hand, I joined the last people in the queue and made it through to the Prince Regent Room at Freemason’s Hall. The models started to come out one-by-one, taking every step very slowly, almost swaying, towards specific points in the room, marked by white geometric shapes. The lights were dim and there was a film projected onto the wall at the far end of the room. The video playing was mysterious, with a lot of silhouettes and obscure shadows of people, as if they were just memories. The ambiance was nostalgic, the lights were low lit and the music was soft; this was mirrored in the models’ expressions which were sad, melancholic, almost blank. The Dutch designer’s creations were mainly monochrome, with touches of digital prints and her signature handwoven tweeds as well as some strict geometric shapes which were predominant in the collection and matched the geometric marked spots on the floor of the room.
After the intriguing Hellen van Rees presentation, I was off to Somerset House with my friend and blogger Magda to queue up for Holly Fulton’s Spring/Summer 2014 show at BFC Courtyard Showspace. As usual, the show was running late and the rain would drizzle and stop, drizzle and stop, drizzle and stop – just enough to get my hair all frizzy! I got some street style shots of people and finally, we were in and led to our seats. Her collection was dominated by florals, digital prints and embellishments, with 70’s-inspired silhouettes and curled hair all swept to one side. Oversized shades brought back the hippy feeling while there were a lot of loose shirt-dresses, girly pastel colours and beige/brown hues. It was a strong collection and very popular, with a lot of cheers going around during the finale and the appearance of the designer.
It was back to Fashion Scout next (at Freemason’s Hall) for the 1pm Lug von Siga show. With just enough time to get there, I managed to get a feel of Fashion Week at Somerset House. The amount of people there today was incredible! It was packed with fashion people strutting around and photographers shooting a go-go.
Lug von Siga is the brand name of Turkish designer, Gul Agis. Inspired by tribal attitudes, the designer’s creations reflected a form of expressing anger from within. The collection was beautiful with a sporty yet chic feel. It contained a lot of tribal embroideries and fringe detailings and cutouts and beautiful fabrics were used in a narrow range of colours from beige to black and white and to red. An impressive collection and a very strong show. It was almost like fighting against fear. I loved being a part of it and I’m so excited to have discovered this designer. Can’t wait to see what she does next season!
Basharatyan V was straight after Lug von Siga. So happy all I had to do was change venue by turning a corner instead of walking all the way back to Somerset House again! Sat second row and could already feel the buzz going around. The room filled up quickly and the Frida Kahlo-inspired show took off with a flash of vibrant neon yellows followed by a flurry of beautiful and bright reds. The silhouettes were loose and flowy, there was a lot of free movement in the garments while hair was held in rigid boy-short wigs. The brows were defined in thick lines of black. It was an incredible collection, colourful and alive with interesting prints and beautiful shapes that seemed to hang so perfectly on the models’ bodies. I absolutely loved the show – everything from the colours to the shapes to the hair and the music was buzzing with life. The collection was a wonderful depiction of the female form through fashion and I loved the designer who came out with a dazzling smile, stunning neon yellow courts and gave a swift wave of the hand before walking out as the lights dimmed down – it was fabulous!
With about 2 hours to spare, Magda and I quickly took off for a delicious pizza (much needed, we were starving!!) and were lucky enough to be seated at a table which had armchairs (heaven after walking all around in heels, standing in a queue, walking some more and queueing again before running off to the next show – and so on!).
Got back to Somerset House around 4 to take in all the buzz. The energy was electric. People were rushing about, photographers were almost standing guard right at the entrance and throughout Somerset, stopping people and shooting away while others were being interviewed and others were running off to shows. The chaos at Fashion Week is electric, there’s something about it that is so intriguing and it feels so amazing to be in the middle of it all and to be a part of it. I went around to get some shots of the best-dressed so check out my favourite looks from the day.
I decided to go total black for the day and wore comfortable heeled boots (because running around from Somerset House to Freemason’s Hall and back ten times a day under the rain in super high Alexander Wang heels during Day 1 was not fun!). My top is Bryan Lichtenberg, my skinnies are from Mango and my boots are Office. My sunglasses are Prism and my bag is Hermès (gotta love raiding my Mum’s closet!).
Bumped into so many friends around Somerset House and spent a lot of time chatting, taking photographs, laughing and discussing all the shows before going to the Ashish show which was running super late and started at about 5 45 instead of 5! It was absolute madness (in the best way!) The venue was so crowded and there was so much excitement in the air as the show began with old hip hop hits playing like Amerie’s ‘One Thing’. I was literally dancing around and stopping only to take photographs. The atmosphere was incredible, it was so fun as we all jammed to the music and the models strutted around the catwalk in huge glittering CocaCola logos in bright red, blue and yellow. There was some crazy hair in similar hues and striped and rainbow streaks, too! It was such a creative collection and a fun show, I left feeling so energized!
Immediately afterwards, I left Somerset House for the final show back at Freemasons’ Hall. Since last season, I had really been looking forward to this next show – Tahir Sultan S/S 2014. I attended last season and adored his collection so couldn’t wait to see his next creations! Just as I expected, it was dynamic and beautiful, with strong shapes and the models were really strutting (in glitter heels, no less!), some covered in shiny gold embellishments, others in colourful and intricate prints and embroideries. It was probably the most popular show of the day with applause going on continuously and people literally shrieking as the finale drew to a close and Sultan came out with a slight smile and, like last season, strutted down the catwalk, bowed at the end, turned around and strutted off again. It was such a good end to the day!
I had such an incredible day – the people, the shows, the photographs, the events; everything going on was amazing and there’s something so contagious about the energy at LFW – being part of it is the best feeling.