Photographer’s Notes:

Gotta love London Fashion Week! The fun thing about LFW is the pre parties which are held at various classy and funky venues around London Like Studio valbonne.

This year the fashion show showcasing 2010 spring collection took place between September 18-22. One of the pre-parties I attended was at the Hoxton Pony in Shoreditch. It’s sleek minimalist feel doesn’t take away from the cosy nature of this really cool split-level club. Decorated with bold visual images throughout with a liberal use of neon lighting on the ceiling made it a good place to take photos.

I arrived about half an hour early and welcomed by the door host DEAN GOLDEN who is also a London stylist, designer, DJ and presenter. I hung out with the Tilllate gang given it was also our social meet up. Miss Melissa Frost who was in charge of the fashion show was also very welcoming even though she was rushed off her feet with prepping the models and general organization of the event. One of the staff gave me the brief and showed me where the models will walk in and where the catwalk would be, after which I quickly got into position.

My self allocated zone got packed with other togs hustling for a good spot to shoot, some of which totally blocked my view. A bit of re-location had to be done to get a good view and shot of the models as the venue got packed pretty quickly.

As the show kicked off the DJ Joe Le Groove dropped some funky electronic tracks that jelled nicely with the HEROES & VILLAN theme for the night. The designers on the night were: SHABNAM SPIERS (the UCL Fashion Show Winner), KAORI MATSUBARA (Latex Kimono Fashion) and ALEXYI RENEECE (hats), Wigs/hair and makeup was courtesy of JAY PINXIE TURNBULL.

It was not your conventional catwalk fashion show, the twist was that the models would continue down the catwalk which led to a staircase leading outside onto Curtain Road (where all the togs will be waiting to take photos) and then up and along the street. Amidst Honking cars and strobe flashes, a small crowd gathered to see the what the designers had to offer.

Designs from SHABNAM SPIERS where creative and visually powerful. If you have seen her work before the models faces are covered so as to draw the viewers focus on her design. Colourful and visually pleasing Latex wear was courtesy of KAORI MATSUBARA. The minimalistic feel of this small venue coupled with funky neon lighting help set the mood for what was a fabulous fashion show party.

Check out the full photoreport here