London Fashion Weeking: Day 3: Topshop Unique

In a strange way, its way more fun having no ticket to a show than actually having one. You feel a bit like common trash standing outside awkwardly waiting for someone interesting to come out, but it's totally exhilarating because you don't know who exactly is in there and once you’re in, you sort of feel approved.

 Two seasons ago, during the SS10 shows, my good friend Tushara and I blagged our way into the Julien Macdonald show here in London. In my post about the show I made it seem as though i was formally invited, but i totally wasn't. 


We told the PR we were with a renowned English newspaper and gave each other fake tacky names, like 'Sonal Shah' and 'Janae Bakken' (cast and crew member's of Scrubs, of course, as Tushy’s obsessed) We thought we had no chance and did it for a laugh, but to our surprise she pointed to the entrance and said 'get in there!' and went on to reject every other person in the queue.  


I’ve always hoped my first show to be Jil Sander or Prada, but I’ve grown quite fond of satin coats and snakeskin evening gowns since then. It felt exhilarating witnessing this excessively extravagant world in person; YouTube videos don't really do it any justice. 


We spied over the tall glasses of champagne carried out by charming, young men amidst “Forbidden Colours” playing in the background, and pushed our way to the front of the standing pit, and lo and behold Constance Jablonski is walking out in a sheer bikini. We felt a bit cheap and twatty with our air of self-importance, but once you’re in, you totally feel a part of the whole fashion pack. Read about the show here.

This SS11 season I decided to go outside a few shows and try to get into a few others with Tushy. Topshop Unique always has a good newbie cast with a few Prada regulars. Surprisingly the show isn’t cast by Russell Marsh, but by Sarah Murray and Jess Hallet of Darling Productions, casting extraordinaire of Louis Vuitton, Sonia Rykiel, and Alexander McQueen among others. You always a spot a new girl at the Topshop show, and by the end of fashion week, she's appeared at Prada and Balenciaga and everyone knows her name. 

Sadly, our last season efforts proved that it‘s really quite pointless trying to get into Topshop Unique. Though it's not one of the biggest names out there, if you don't have a ticket then the PR won't even look at you let alone bother to listen to a swarm of lies, the PRs are surprisingly very organised with their lists and ticket allocations unlike some of the bigger  brands. 


It was really frustrating because they changed the venue from Luxborough Street to Waterloo Station. I had to follow a bunch of Russian women who looked a part of fashion week throughout my entire journey. I noticed this season that there were so many Russians outside the shows.  I always find that during fashion week, everywhere you go, there's fashion industry people wherever you go with the BBC accreditation card around their necks. You often find yourself just following someone who looks remotely fashion-y just to find a show.

 There weren't that many people standing outside, except for a few photographers and a hoard of drivers standing around smoking and waiting. I decided to talk to some of the drivers and ask them who they were driving. I didn't really care for Amber Le Bon's driver, so i asked some of the other model drivers instead. 


I came across one guy who seemed exhausted and totally out of it. He was a bit sceptical about me asking him who he was driving but eventually he gave in. I honestly could never understand what he ever said because he spoke so fast and had such a thick accent. So eventually he told me he was driving: 'Abblifghdj' There wasn’t really much point asking him to repeat what he said. I just assumed he meant 'Abbey Lee Kershaw,' so I told him that i was a big fan and that I’d love to have a picture with her. He told me that he'd been driving her for four hours and that she was the loveliest person he’d ever worked with. He also said that he'd be driving his car right out at the front to pick her up quicker so i should wait by there to get a good picture.

I waited around at the front, and by the end of the show I spotted Nicola Roberts, of UK hit band Girls Aloud.  We usually spot her at every London Fashion Week show; no one really cares for her picture as much because she’s literally everywhere. 

Also, Julia Roitfeld, of the Tom Ford advertising campaign fame and that hilariously awful Jil Sander perfume ad  came out, you feel she’s the only person worth photographing, surprisingly no one cared about her, but I couldn’t stop staring at how beautiful she was: bright green eyes and all legs. Amber Rose comes out and everyone is flooding for her picture, I think they were all expecting Kanye to come out. But still no sign of Abbey Lee!  I was surprised when Amber Rose looked towards me, spread her hips wide and put her hands on her hips for my camera, I then realised she was expecting me to take a picture. She then got into that man’s car, he waved bye to me and drove off. So it turned out he was driving Amber Rose and not Abbey Lee. How do you mix the two names up?

Still no sign of models, with all the new girls of the season, I didn’t think I’d be able to recognise many. I notice big fluffy hair a la Louis Vuitton ss10 and I spot Julia Nobis looking unhappy in an afro and garish red lips, she doesn’t look like she wants to be photographed but I thought I’d ask her anyway, I haven’t been waiting around for nothing. She is one of the girls of the season, from appearing at Marc Jacobs to opening Proenza Schouler. She has this awkward and mysterious beauty about her that I really like.

 Then there’s a small crowd around Dree Hemmingway.  In pictures she looks mean and unapproachable and in videos she talks about all the clothes she wears, but she seems really sweet. I approach her and ask for a picture, she looks down at my small stature and asks me my name and how she would be happy for me to take a picture of her. I haven’t said much and she grabs me and hugs me and tells me I’m the sweetest thing ever. I don’t know if its for the camera that’s watching over or the people surrounding, but I figure she’s quite lovely, though I feel a bit patronised.  

I recognise Austrian Ilvie Wittek, who appeared in shows Prada and Louis Vuitton last season standing alone. She reminds me of Hannah Holman in every way, peaches and cream complexion and pale blonde hair. She has this quiet stature and shyness that’s really endearing.

 Then Constance Jablonski comes rushing out eating a bar of chocolate walking along with Dorothea-Barth-Jorgensen. I never got Dorothea’s appeal until I saw her in person, she has this ethereal quality about her in person, she’s impossibly thin but there’s a gracefulness in her fragility and movement that really stands out. Constance on the other hand is strikingly beautiful in person, her eyes are a pale blue in contrast to her warm tan skin and she has this expensive bone structure. In her heavy French drawl she deals with everyone approaching her with unpretentiousness and modesty. You would have thought it would have all gone to her head by now.