Ladies and gentleman, you may or may not be aware (if not then where have you been?!) that the four most important weeks of the fashion year are currently in swing. This September, in New York, London, Paris and Milan, fashion week is taking place. As I write this, London is just coming to a spectacular close. I am now super excited for NEXT summer after seeing the beautiful S/S ’14 collections.
But, I’m not writing about those collections and how wonderful the shows were overall, I’m here to tell you who is important in the world of fashion and who isn’t. Many people think it’s an industry that simply makes millions of pounds a year through vanity and young girls wanting to look like their favourite icons. It’s not. It’s much more complex than that. Here is my guide to who’s who at the shows…
THE EDITORS:
The Editor of a fashion magazine to me is much like a President. They basically rule the fashion world. From the moment the first model steps out onto the catwalk, editors like Vogue’s Alexandra Schulman and Anna Wintour and ELLE’s Lorraine Candy have already decided whether the collection is going to be a fail or feature in the new season shoot. If they don’t like it then nobody should be wearing it. Luckily for most London designers, this season seems to be a success, especially for Topshop Unique, Mary Katrantzou and Burberry.
THE FASHION ASSISTANTS:
If you want to be a stylist, fashion editor or just try on amazing clothes and go to amazing locations for photo shoots, you’ll probably start off as an intern or fashion assistant. While your job will mostly include calling in clothes for shoots, you get the bonus of being invited to a handful of shows. You’ll spend lots of time following your Editor. Dress code for an assistant is a key piece from the designer of the show they are going to (usually borrowed from a friend/magazine fashion closet) with a mix of high street essentials.
THE CELEBRITIES:
Don’t deny it. When your favourite celeb is on TV, the front page of a magazine or at an event you always want to know who they are wearing. Designers know who is loved and who isn’t, so they carefully select the elite to take a seat on the FROW (front row – you must know that one!) knowing that lots of us girls will be dying to see who got a covetable seat and what they’re wearing. It also guarantees their clothes will be worn as a sign of respect by said celebrities, thus increasing the attention the brand will get. Ooh they’re so clever those designers! Spotted at several shows this season were the cool Alexa Chung, Pixie Geldof, Suki Waterhouse and Sienna Miller!
THE BLOGGERS:
Bloggers are vital in the fashion industry. Some are super lucky and have a golden ticket moment when they are cordially invited to take a seat (YES! – A SEAT! Most bloggers have to stand at the back) at a high profile designers showcase like Michael Kors, Diane Von Furtsenburg or Saint Laurent. They sit poised with their iPhone ready to snap as many looks as possible and instantly upload to Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for their followers to see. Without bloggers we’d have to wait a whole 10 minutes more to see those looks and in fashion every minute counts! In addition, girls can relate more to bloggers than celebs with their kooky street style photos clogging up Instagram feeds every day as they often mix high street, designer and vintage, thus keeping looks more accessible to students like us! I’ve been following LA based blogger Sincerely Jules for all the latest news from the catwalks.
THE MODELS:
Finally, there are the models. *sigh* The girls who have it all (in my opinion at least!). Perfect skin, figure and job as well as all those free clothes! Oh and they go to the coolest parties! This season the models to watch are Sky Ferreira, Sam Rollinson, Edie Campbell, Jourdan Dunn and of course girl of the moment Cara Delevigne. Rumour has it that they are the new supermodels – watch your backs Cindy and Naomi! They are loved by designers and editors, envied by bloggers and fashion assistants and BFFs with all the celebs.
Now you know who’s who and the very important roles that they play in the fashion industry you can start plotting how you will get into the Autumn/Winter shows when Fashion Week takes place all over again after Christmas (I can only dream!). You also now know who to look to for advice on what’s hot this season, so there are no excuses for not looking your best on campus this term!
Image Sources:
http://www.standard.co.uk/incoming/article8152180.ece/ALTERNATES/w620/51frowmain.jpg