Going to Somerset House during London Fashion Week was an experience in itself, meeting, networking and taking in current trends and styles. I felt it was important to go as it broadened my ideas, gave me inspiration and helped my research move forward whilst keeping it up to date. It also helped introduce current methods and techniques I am learning into real life, giving each one diversity and helping me visualise exactly what I'm learning and how it could be used. I'd say keeping up with the week was successful, I visited Somerset House twice, watched shows online and outside Somerset House and went to two shows. This all showed me just how important dressing for the role is, simply looking the part gets you noticed. It makes people pay attention to you, whilst also allowing you to be taken more seriously, as a young student trying to get into the industry, these points counted to be vital.
I got on very well during the week and I got a good feel for what goes on during, before and after shows. Different days at Somerset House produce different sorts of people, four main types; people who go to take pictures, people who go to have pictures taken, people who go to shows, and models. The square is extremely atmospheric, and you can tell when a show is about to start because there is a massive rush and buzz and black cars arrive. My visits to Somerset House were successful, I managed to get into a Press Event which was fantastic for networking, but unfortunately it was an 'after-show' event so I didn't get a chance to see the show it was for. I learnt a lot about the intensity of the shows, and I managed a glimpse of the 'Here and Now' fashion world.
As I said earlier, dressing the part was something I learnt to be extremely important, when one photographer shows to take your pictures, they literally come in flocks. Showing trends can be on the Street as well as the Catwalk, and how easy it is to translate a personal style into something commercial. This can be seen through the transitions from Couture into RTW and then into High Street shops like Zara and Topshop and many others. Although saying this, many turn up in ridiculous outfits simply to be "papped" at Somerset House for their 'Street Style'. I made sure to get pictures of styles I particularly liked through the week, which was very useful as it means I can refer back to any of these easily. The main two tips I picked up were to be interesting and to stand out, but in a good way. Tips that will be translated into my own work; there is no use designing items that have been used to death, silhouettes that could have been copied and pasted from someone else. My own work needs to be 'my own' and it has to have a recognisable style. However inspiration is everywhere and for that reason alone, going was very useful.
My main challenge was turning up alone on the second day, however this turned out to be much better as I could keep to my own planning and time keeping. I learnt for next time that pre-planning is vital, getting tickets in advance will ensure entry into shows, as opposed to streaming. Although the 'Front Row' streams were brilliant as I could see any collections I wanted to, it was completely free, and it meant I could pause and return back to any collections I particularly liked or took inspiration from. As well as pre-planning for tickets, checking the weather ahead of time to ensure going on the best possible day. One aspect I noticed was that the weather makes a huge difference to the atmosphere, more people turn up on sunny days both to go to shows and photographers. The week mainly helped my confidence in networking, a vital skill in the fashion industry and gave me a huge variety of inspiration and encouragement to continue in this career path.
No comments:
Post a Comment