London Fashion Week is the bi-annual event on every fashionistas calendar. It’s an extravaganza in itself and although I love it – I’m kind of glad it only happens once in awhile, as it’s both fabulous and exhausting. Everywhere you look is a people watcher’s haven, with incredible outfit concoctions around every corner. It’s also a collaboration of dashing from venue to venue (usually with 30 minutes of traffic), panicking about being late and moaning about sore feet.
This season, I was lucky enough to go once again – and had an amazing whirlwind couple of days, which I can’t wait to share with you!
Although I usually stay at home (in North London) and commute in each day, this season – I was given a saving grace in the fact that Premier Inn offered to host me for the duration. This meant I could have a Central London base for the weekend and worry not about getting home at a certain time or catching a particular train.
Danielle and I stayed at the Premier Inn Blackfriars which was convienently located just five minutes away from all the action. Our rooms were lovely and had all the amenities you’d expect from a modern hotel, without the ginormous price tag usually attached. The hotel staff were extremely friendly and helpful – switching our rooms to be next to each other rather than different floors with a touch of a button – and putting on a fabulous breakfast spread each morning!
The great location of our hotel meant that on Saturday morning, with an extremely busy day jam-packed full with shows – we didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn in order to make our call time – and could have a leisurely breakfast before heading over to the home of all the action – Freemason’s Hall, Fashion Scout. Instead of taking the tube (which didn’t really agree with our choice of footwear) we opted to use a new app called Kabbee, a brilliant fuss-free way to be picked up, pay and dropped off wherever you need. They’re almost 65% cheaper than any black cab and the longest we had to wait was 3 minutes, which is amazing! I’d definitely recommend downloading the app if you’re in London and hate tubes as much as I do!
We were to be spending the day with The Body Shop, who are the official make-up/beauty sponsors of Fashion Scout and therefore have a fabulous base (filled products galore – a beauty lover’s dream) for bloggers to hang out at. I’ve been lucky enough to spend LFW with The Body Shop a couple of year’s running now and every single time gets better! I’ve often found Fashion Week a little intimidating however the lovely ladies at The Body Shop are the friendliest, loveliest and most welcoming bunch around and I always come away with a huge smile on my face and excited anticipation for next season (and albeit rather achy feet).
The first show of the day was Apu Jan, a relatively monochrome collection with a fabulous palette of prints. The show swapped between tailored outfits and floaty floral fits, however there was a heavy feminine feel throughout. The make-up was kept relatively light and neutral with one singular fuchsia flick on the eyes and dewy, glowing skin while models wore little antlers in their hair. I was pleasantly surprised at how wearable some of the pieces are and I can definitely see how the collection will be translated onto high street (think lots of layering, with a switch between tailored and floaty jackets – monochrome and a pop of plum).
We then saw another more neon centric show, with fabulous neutral (very light) minimalistic make-up, with a firm focus on healthy, glowing skin. The Body Shop Beautifying Oil was massaged into skin, before a spritz of the Vitamin E Face Mist and swipe of the colour crush lipstick (in a dark nude) which formed the basis of the eye and lip make-up. The hair was a very polished affair, with a pop of neon colour to compliment the clothes.
Next up was Mimi Tran, a gorgeously girly show with a firm focus on princess glamour. Swooshy dresses, glitzy fabrics and false lashes were on display, with fifties waves perfected backstage (as can be seen). This was probably my favourite hair and make-up look out of them all, as although it was glamour on a bigger scale – I could see this being translated in real life. FROW at this show included MIC’s Kimberly and her very chiselled looking boyfriend and Emma Atack (who I believe was sitting next to her sister) who has most recently appeared in the Keith Lemon Sketch Show following a successful stint on The Inbetweeners.
Then it was time for Zeynep Kartal, my favourite show of them all. The dresses are always incredible and teamed with an amazing hair and make-up look. I had the pleasure of sitting FROW for this show, a privilege in itself for such an amazing show – and have featured them heavily in my flashback mini vlog which can be viewed at the bottom of this post. The way the clothes move, look and (I’m sure) feel is out of this world and if you’re ever looking for a special occasions dress, a quick Google of Zeynep Kartal will give you all the inspiration you’ll ever need. Prepare to be wowed!
We had an incredible day with The Body Shop – which formed the majority of my LFW experience (although I also attended a couple other presentations and events, so I’ll be posting those separately over the coming weeks) and I can’t thank them enough for hosting me once again. I was able to sit Front Row on a number of shows, which if I think back to when (and why) I set up my blog, I would have never dreamed to ever be able to have an experience like it. Caroline Hirons, skincare expert – was assisting The Body Shop during the day and thanks to them, I was able to have a personal consultation with the lady herself (full post coming soon). I had the most fantastic day and I’m already counting down until next season!
I did actually do a spot of filming on the day itself, which I’ve collated into a mini ‘flashback’ vlog! If you fancy it, feel free to have a watch!
What do you think of LFW? Would you like to see more flashback mini vlogs – or should I stick to blogging?