You can take the girl out of Manchester…and stick her in the middle of London Fashion Week

Well, I have now been in London for just over two weeks, and the excitement just grows and grows…and grows.  I knew that London was going to be fun, but I did not know that it was going to be THIS MUCH FUN.  And the best thing about it is that the fun is centred around my work in fashion, which is just the icing on the cake.

Anyway, back to the subject of fashion.  Yesterday saw the start of London Fashion Week (in my world, it is more commonly known as HAUTE HEAVEN WEEK).  Due to my hectic schedule (and plan for world domination via my work as a social media stylist), I was unable to make it to all the shows I was supposed to attend yesterday (so sorry guys).  However, one show that I did manage to get to was Once Upon A Time, in aid of Hauser Bears.  I got there early, which with the benefit of hindsight was good thinking, because by the time the show came to start, every seat in the house was taken.  Fabulous fashion blogger Leroy Dawkins (Twitter name @Clotheshorse90) arrived just in time for the start of the show, and we finally got to meet and chat after months of Twitter conversations…love it.  I was also thrilled to meet the lovely Tawi Jenyo from Stitching the Gap.

Just before the show...

The lovely Gail Porter opened the show, with her adorable daughter...

The lovely Gail Porter in a Hauser Bears T-shirt

And then it was lights down, catwalk, action.  David & Goliath who designed the Hauser Bears t-shirts came down the catwalk first.  Very quirky, cool and in aid of a good cause, so I will definitely be making an investment.

Next came NICHOLE de CARLE, whose lingerie was both beautiful and risqué.  Every girl who came down the catwalk looked amazing and what was great was the fact that the models looked healthy, rather than the usual skinny minnies.

Lovely Lingerie Ladies

Whilst I was watching this particular part of the show, a familiar face came and sat on the front row.  Monsieur Dawkins later informed me that it was none other than Adam Ant, who I must say had an air of Johnny Depp about him and was wearing a fabulous kilt…the reason behind his outfit was soon to become clear.

Adam Ant

At the end of the lingerie fest, all the girls came out…topless!  However, they did have their hands strategically placed over their chests, which looked great and was the perfect way to end this part of the show.  The designer then came out and took a bow, and in the words of Jay-Z, it was onto the next one.

Footage from the show...

Next came the English Kilt Company, which I loved…not only because the kilts were amazing in terms of design and quality, but the fact that two of the male models came out topless (and carried it off rather well).  I became so engrossed in my appreciation for their ‘look’ that I forgot to take pictures…sorry girls.  For me, they epitomised British fashion perfectly: stylish, quality, eccentric…I loved it.  And to top it off, Adam Ant appeared in his fab kilt, to massive cheers from the audience…very cool indeed!

The English Kilt Company

And now for my favourite part of the show…LOULOU BONTEMPS.  Firstly, I would like to congratulate Loulou and the designers for putting together a show that was the epitome of collaboration and was totally in-keeping with the theme of the show overall.  However I would like to reserve some of the congratulations for Loulou herself.  My reason for this is that I have been with Loulou (helping to style the outfits), whilst she has been organising the whole show, so I have seen first-hand what went into creating this particular segment of the show.

Loulou 'Beautiful' Bontemps

You would not believe the amount of work (and stress) that goes into putting together something that is literally, over in minutes.  To say she has worked hard, would be an understatement…and all of this has been achieved without the use of a mobile phone…quite a feat in this day and age of technology.  The clothes were designed by Peyrovi, Briar Rose, Murrin, and Sally Pang.  The accessories were created by Loulou, Still Remains, and Gemma Dane, and Elmstone.  Everything came together perfectly and the overall look was very wearable (which is not something you can often say about a catwalk collection).

Finally came, Florian Jayet, whose collection brought one word to mind…armour.  Once again, the pieces that came down the catwalk were very wearable and were in the classic colours black and white.  The structure and attention to detail was fantastic and each of the outfits looked as though they had been specially made to fit each model.  I also felt there was something artistic (almost graphically-inspired) about this collection.  There was minimalism injected with intricate attention to detail which I loved.  I would happily wear these pieces exactly as they are, direct from the catwalk.

Florian Jayet

Following on from the show, there was a fantastic after-party.  Everyone was mingling and networking, and generally enjoying themselves, which is always nice to see.  And then came the moment that I will remember for the rest of my life…meeting Jimmy Choo.  I overheard someone saying that he had arrived.  Everyone who knows STYLISA, knows how much STYLISA LOVES Jimmy Choo.  When I eventually found him, he was lovely, easy to talk to and very polite.  When I asked for a photograph, he was only too happy to say yes to my request.  I will treasure that picture and the moment forever.  I also managed to chat to Gail Porter after the show, who was simply delightful.

OH MY GOD...JIMMY CHOO

Gail Porter (and her adorable daughter)

All in all, the show was a major success.  And needless to say, I am very proud of my friend Loulou for pulling off a great show…and what’s even more brave, is that she is doing it all again on Tuesday 21^st September – click on the following link for more details http://bit.ly/bsP6Ul

And I would like to say a massive thank you to Jane Phelps of couture label JStreet, who made my dress and has made my other dresses that I will be wearing during fashion week - check out her blog http://jstreetcouture.blogspot.com/ and follow her on Twitter (@jstcouture).

Right, must dash! More shows to attend and world domination to plan!

Until the next time, stay stylish,

STYLISA xXx