I am going to my first London Fashion Week show as a guest. I am so excited.
I am always behind the scenes, which is the most exciting place to be to date in my life! The buzz backstage is unreal. It starts with finding a plug for your dryer, most of the places backstage are not set up for 10 hairdryers and mirrors. Then after you set up, the models drop in, one by one. They sit there on the phone eating whatever they like because they are 16 and fabulous. The dressers are busily sewing last minute buttons on garments and hemming dresses, while the choreographer frantically shouts orders to all, and the skinny waifs join him onstage for a rehearsal. As he has to get all 25 models parading the runway in precise military style, naturally, they hold up the rest of us who need to do the girls hair, makeup and clothes.
So now the tension is running really high. The pressure is on to spray, blow, set, tease, brush, poof, sculpt, spray, spray some more, dishevel, spray again for all the girls while makeup is being pressed, fluffed, smeared, drawn, powdered and pressed again. Now emerges these powerful goddesses, trapesing around in just a g string. The designer comes in shouting at the teams, why aren’t they dressed yet and when is the hair going to be finished, and why is the lipstick on before Candice ate the sandwich!! Everybody is running around and the temperature is hot in there. The guests are filing in and the energy in the green room is electric. Models are hurriedly jumping into the carefully created costumes of an artist. Mr choreographer is shouting again and the hairdressers are whipping the hair around in record time. Magic is happening. An alchemy of creativity is about to explode. Just then the music starts and the girls are lined up behind the curtain. And boom! The show begins.
Ahh well, I am looking forward to seeing what happens on the other side. I am going to Jeff Garner at Prophetic who is an amazing ethical fashion designer and this years collection is called “Courtly Love”. www.prophetik.com