Day one of London Fashion Week for me was actually more like LFW-eve - the day before the proper schedule kicks in. After a day in the office chasing other LFW tickets and backstage passes, I was given the opportunity to go to the first ever hair and beauty fashion show at Somerset House. Of course I said yes! I was so excited as we walked into the BFC show space, champagne on entree, for the Toni & Guy show. It kicked off at 7:45pm, with Naomi Campbell introducing the show, and Olivia Palmero and Matthew Williamson sitting front row. Again I was utterly star struck. After the initial Gwyneth Paltrow and Tulisa star-gazing experience, you would think I would be a bit calmer in this situation. But no, my phone was out, the tweeting began and I took about 20 pictures of Naomi!
Photo:Getty
All of a sudden it was time for the show to begin. The lights went down, the music came up and a mass of phones and cameras were lifted in the air, mine included! And the show was amazing. It was divided into four sections. Classic, casual, glamour and creative. I thought it was really clever how the Toni & Guy team had managed to combine each of the different hairstyles with matching outfits. It all seemed to flow perfectly.
Photo:MyDaily
(On another note, I never realised you could do so much with hair! There were ponytails, plaits, and up-dos, messy hair, slick hair, backcombed hair, big hair, REALLY BIG hair and EVEN BIGGER hair than the REALLY BIG hair!)
Photo:Getty
My second day of LFW, (officially day one of the schedule) kicked off to an early start. I made my way to Somerset House, big camera in tow, ready to take some Street Style pictures for the website. I met Tors (MyDaily's beauty intern) outside, and we headed inside Somerset House to meet Sarah (MyDaily's Senior Writer). We needed to register ourselves, and then it was time to get started.
At first I was slightly nervous at the prospect of approaching complete strangers and asking them if I could take their picture. I was presuming that I would be told to leave them alone. Wrong! They were more comfortable posing for the camera than I felt at the beginning asking them to take their picture! After a couple of hesitant minutes practicing our opening line for when we were going to approach these people, we grabbed our first street style victim. After that it was easy and I started to really enjoy myself. I can honestly say I have never seen such a diverse group of people (and clothes!) in one space at one time. There was fur, leather, feathers, denim, flares, heels. I know people have major wardrobe/fashion dilemmas when going to fashion events, but you could have worn literally anything, including pyjamas, and you would have fit in perfectly! Some people looked utterly amazing, some quirky, some slightly strange, but every style seemed to work for that individual. I really liked that I had been asked to find out a little bit about the person behind the wacky wardrobe. It made it more personal, and showed that you don't just get people who are involved in the fashion industry at London Fashion Week. Something that I had expected! I met a doctor, a writer, a teacher - each completely out of the fashion industry, but obsessed with the fashion world.
Photo:MyDaily
At around midday, it was time to head back to the office. Walking down to the station, I realised that London Fashion week wasn't just happening at Somerset House, but absolutely everywhere. Most shop window displays were dedicated to the event, with people handing out leaflets and flyers, and I felt so privileged to be involved!
Back at the office, I had a few emails to reply to, and a couple of London Fashion Week tickets that I needed to chase up for weekend. Then it was on to the task of creating a gallery of the street style pictures that I had taken that morning for the website. With some guidance from Philippa (MyDaily's Entertainment and Culture writer), and a tour of their CMS, my pictures were soon up with the captions written underneath. I didn't realise at first, but my name had been put at the bottom of the article, and like a little girl, the first thing I did when I got home was show my mum the article on the computer! Little as it is, I felt like I had achieved something and I was really proud of myself!
By Amy Mahoney