The Hideaway

Ashish: All that glitters...

From Day 2 of LFW 19/09/09

Wow I mean what an opportunity, what a privilege to actually be able to watch the clothes in action sashay down the runway at one of the highly tipped shows at London Fashion Week. Ashish always brings the feel good factor into his clothes they are designed to ignite fun and frolics and his latest 2010 collection did not disappoint on this aspect.

It embodied the 70's Miami Vice, laid back tinsel town glamour with fully sequined shift dresses, loose wide leg trousers matched with slogan tee's in a pop art twist, which made the pieces all that much more contemporary and likeable. The large flower prints, flamingos, palm trees and sunsets gave the distinct impression that the summer vibe had been woven into the fabrics and the sun was escaping through. Side bows, knotting and twists feminised the loose silhouette with a juxtaposed mix of punk bleached denim and spikes to toughen it up. Overall you could not help but smile and adore the punchy bright sparkles with the familiar advertising slogans adding humour and making fashion fun as it should be.

All the pictures below were taken with the professional Canon kits which was a digital SLR EOS 50D and digital IXUS courtesy of 1000 heads marketing in association with Canon.

Blow PR Internship

So this was my first fashion week and I was anxious and excited on what it may entail, especially working one. I knew it would be manic however I was still not prepared to how intense it is!

I was overjoyed that I was able to join the Blow PR team as one of the 20 or so interns where I started with the mail out of the invitations (oh my feet!!!) scouring the streets of London, A-Z in one hand, Invitations and plasters in the other (I have found a new respect for the postmen of London who daily tackle the puzzling London house numbering and challenging letter boxes or in some cases lack of them!)

Blow PR are great for cultivating fresh design talent and have mainline clients under their wing such as Aminaka Wilmont, Avsh Alom Gur, Basso & Brooke, Bernard Chandran, Manish Arora & Bora Aksu to name but a few.

Left: Blow PR Interns

Really got to experience a good chunk of fashion week as I worked shows in On/Off at the strand, Blow Presents (extrodinary show with the likes of Gemma Slack, Ioannis D, Iris Van Herpen and Lina Osterman with creative workshops for the kids- feathers glue paint everywhere!) at the Festival Hall and last but not least Vauxhall Fashion Scout at the Freemasons Hall.

Right: Is my Blow Badge

If I learnt only a few essential lessons

(buy comfortable shoes, wear cool/breathable clothes buy more black!)

2. not to wear my badge to and from the shows

as many peole would comment and shout Hi Zara, that's not

really your name oh it's like the shop and worse of all actually

popping into the shop so many questions were asked by those who

thought I worked there. Unfortunatly I don't actually know what items

are in stock although that would be a bonus!

below: Some Invations to various Blow PR lfw shows

Setting out the seating at the Bernard Chandran catwalk show on Friday at On/Off

Beautiful assorted animal lanterns with candle and stick, flowers by Melissa Riva (which I luckily took one home) with Blow Press release, credits list, What magazine and a Fash Week favourite perrier water.

Canon: The Essence of London Fashion Week

When I started this blog during the summer it was for the intention of posting up various uni projects as an online showcase however it has transformed slowly into a more personal place a digital diary or journal where I can express my thoughts and feelings and share with others what i find truly inspirational or interesting. Therefore when I first received an email as a result of my blog from the lovely people at 1000 heads outlining details of the planned Canon fashion week event inviting myself to join with them must admit had a reserved scepticism, thinking this must too good to be true.... and indeed in a surreal sense it was (had to continue to keep pinching myself)!

I Jumped at this opportunity as I knew this one not to be missed, it sounded amazing the initiative that was Canon Camera Buzz and the plan was for day 2 of Fashion week where I would have the chance to get up close and personal with Canon staff and equipment, although not a technically great photographer I do love to give it a try and already have a Canon SLR which is fantastically sharp and precise so I was excited to try some of there other products and at Fashion Week... well what a bonus!

Photo of a photo- Camilla joining in with our camera happy snapping

So on the Day i rushed over a sunny Waterloo bridge from doing Blow Presents and met the gorgeous Camilla from a 1000 heads with two lovely fellow bloggers Sophie of Trendspiration and Elle of Oh Elle (Check there amazing blogs put mine to shame!) Off we went for a pre 3 course lunch in the plush restaurant within Somerset house where we was joined by the amazing (invaluable) photography expert David Newton who helped us master the techniques while we indulged with several glasses of wine.

Above: The best risotto I have ever had the meal was just luxuriously delicious

heading into the CPS area we had more on hands on tuition with David who preps us so we could explore all that fashion week has to offer and capture the best possible shots which we felt expressed 'The Essence of London Fashion Week'.

L-R: Me (in the grey jacket with the carnation, sorry personal joke), Elle, Sophie and Tech God David

Below: Getting to grips with the cameras

We had Catwalk seats for the Ashish show at 5.30 and adrenaline and the excitement was building!! (please see my all that glitters post for details of the catwalk and exclusive photos of the show!) To top off an already perfect day we went for a couple of cocktails in Covent Garden.... I owe many Thanks to all the Team at 1000 heads, Canon for allowing me the privilege to work with such professional equipment, Camilla for the fantastic hospitality on the day, David for his patience and expert tuition and for having fantastic company with my new found blogger friends Sophie and Elle- You all made the day so special, one i will never forget, it was lovely to meet you all x

Here are Just some photo highlights of the day including the exhibitions, celebrities and some street style shots of attendees:

We met the stunning Jameela Jamil from T4 who was so friendly and sweet, we spoke about her new found fame and how she is finding everyone rushing to take her photo, she admitted it is kind of strange and that she felt very self conscious of spots (trust me there was none!). She is absolutely stunning in person and mentioned she had just had a dress named after her by one of her favourite designer labels LP.BG. She was also a fan of supporting the great British high street and was wearing irregular choice shoes (see close ups in above post). Jameela also shed some light on that age old argument over who is hotter Steve Jones or Rick Edwards she backed Ricks corner exclaiming how gorgeous he is!

Above: Canon VIP area- Where Joan Collins no less caught up with the team the day before explaining her love of Canon Cameras and her hobby of photography.

Below: Camilla practices her model walk helping us set up our cameras ready for the Ashish Catwalk

VV Brown being photographed before she take her front row seat at the Ashish show which afterwards she told us how much she loved it and wanted every piece!