The day after Graduate Fashion Week 2014

Drawing from Fashion Illustration workshop Saturday 31 May Model: me

GFW 2014 finished yesterday. I was there for most of it wearing different hats, so to speak - and for real! I did a fashion illustration workshop for LCF on saturday and got the chance to see the show by the Edinburgh School of Art students in the evening - really loved Colleen Leitch's collection, then I was there on Monday, lending a hand to All Walks Beyond the Catwalk, who ran once again a Diversity Now! competition, and finally I was there yesterday to look around, see more shows including the Award Ceremony. What incredible talent! Had I been judging I would have had a very hard time as I absolutely loved all the work. They were all winners, in my view.
It was great to see diversity on the catwalk at the show of Arts University Bornemouth. I had the chance to model one of their collections at South Coast Fashion Week very recently but this time it was the inimitable David Gant and Jean Woods who took to the catwalk and  it was wonderful to see them and also see the  involvement of children. AUB were not shortlisted for the final award but in my view they deserve a mention for being so innovative on the catwalk.
I bumped into many interesting people from award winning stylist and designer Twinks Burnett (from AUB) to youth mentor and jewellery lover Efe Ezekiel who runs UshineIshine not to mention the lovely Alyson Walsh who writes the blog Thatsnotmyage, which I follow and find quite inspiring - I hear that a book is in the making, wonderful news!
I also bumped into Cidy who used to be a model and has now turned into a photographer and was outside the Truman Brwery, where GFW took place, taking pictures of the many different people that walked in and out. GFW is a celebration of clothes, so visitors too often wear very stylish designs or make an effort to style themselves in a very individual way.

Marie Schuller's workshop in progress. Notice the large screen at the back where editing actions can be seen by the audience

It was also great to watch  Marie Schuller from ShowStudio demonstrating throughout the day how a fashion film is made. I have worked with her a few times but never really had the chance to observe  the process.

Fashion films fascinate me and especially Marie's. She is so incredibly versatile and I love the fact her films are  very surreal, often abstract but with an interesting narrative that underpins them and which unsettles the viewer's preconceptions. She can handle references and citations beautifully, without ever losing her individuality. A graduate of the National Film and Television School,  Marie is head of Fashion Films at ShowStudio. Our latest collaboration is a music video Slider of the Japanese acid punk band Bo Ningen, currently on Nowness, in the music section.

 Schuller's Slider

On my way back home, already past 10 pm, as I was waiting for the overground train in Shoreditch station, a tall and lanky young woman with a distinctive Eastern European accent asked me whether it was a westbound train. I recognised her as one of the models, half make up removed, but still some traces of it and a very tired expression on her face. I nodded. She thanked me, immediately put on her headphones and sprawled herself on the seat, half removing her shoes. The poor girl must have walked for miles as she was on from the start of the week.
This morning I am part relieved it is all over - it was very tiring, with so much to take in, but I also kind of miss it, it was exciting to be there.