Backstage at John Rocha SS11

My next stop is Somerset House, there is no point being here because it is nearly impossible to try and get into the show here. They are incredibly organised here at Somerset house. All the shows are set in the one tent at the centre, and there’s a queueing room where you wait to get your ticket checked, there isn’t even a queue for those without a ticket. Sometimes the queues are so massive even if you have a ticket you aren’t necessarily guaranteed entrance. That’s what happened last season at John Rocha. The show was crazily oversubscribed and the queue went from one end of the building to the other, only about roughly a half of the people fit into the tent.

 Though, you can’t get into the shows, I’ve found its quite easy to get in backstage. Last season I spotted John Rocha having a fag with Jethro Cave outside the backstage area, I walked up the black stairs and opened the big black door and security looked at me like, ‘wtf’ but I just walked on and they said nothing. If you act like you have authority then no one will bother you, but if you waver or show signs of insecurity then they’ll notice.

This was where I met recent face of Burberry and lead singer of  Avius Sebastian Brice, when he was new. I asked him If he would ever get the Burberry mainline campaign,  and he looked a little embarrassed and laughed  ‘I don’t think they’d ever choose me for something that big!’ A couple of months passed by and he appeared in the winter campaign alongside London babe Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Nina Porter and Thomas Penfound. Sadly I have no evidence of meeting Sebastian Brice, Jethro Cave and Douglas Nietzke that day as this was the very day I left my Nokia N97 in a bloody black cab.

James Hampson is standing outside smoking a cigarette, I remember him from the Prada SS09 menswear show and that FTV video where he tells us he loves Britney spears and is an i-Pod junkie. He doesn’t look nearly as fresh as he appears in the video. He looks a bit dreary and grey, puffing huge clouds of smoke. He asks me how I recognise him, and I’m not sure what to say. I’ve always found that whenever I recognise male models, they aren’t the least bit surprised, but how is that if the general public who aren’t interested in fashion don’t even know who they are?

 Last season, when I met Jono Namara waiting in the queue for a show, he had no pretensions of being recognised even though he’s done countless campaigns for brands like Lanvin and Dior Homme.  I asked him why male models don’t seem surprised and he told me later: ‘they only play it cool so it seems like they are recognised the whole time. I was really shocked you knew who I was.’ I ask James if he ever gets recognised and he flinches and says he’s rarely in london, so very rarely. Anyhow, look out for him in Russian GQ editorials.

I walk through the door and see swarms of make-up artists and hairdressers picking at every model, frizzing their hair into the characteristic SS11  afro and wiping off every remnant from other shows. A woman shouts, ‘Who is doing Linsdey Wixsons hair when she arrives?’ I see Ilvie Wittek again, she looks confused as she stares at me. It must be strange being whisked off to a million places in a short time and seeing familiar random people. I look around the clothing rails and spot John Rocha and a team of dressers tending to a model, I turn around and I see a rib cage and some breasts- a model is completely nude, which feels entirely awkward but she doesn’t seem too bothered by it.  The clothes are mainly of corsetry, over-sized pieces, evening gowns in fleshy tones and frothy textured hats, nothing gimmicky just unfussy, elegant clothes with character. 

With models waiting around, PRs bustling about and make-up artists growing increasingly suspicious of anyone, backstage gets boring after a while. After awkwardly taking snaps of anything and anyone, my flash decided to go off and amidst the crowd of make-up artist they all turn around and look at me.  The head make-up artists asks me why I'm taking a pictures and who the hell I am, I don't know idea what to say so I try to sound as official as possible and I tell her I'm a backstage photographer for Fashion Rambler blog and that my name is Sonal Shah. . She isn't having any of it. She says 'I'm going to go and check your name on the list to see if you're supposed to be here.' She still stands there and she isn't getting a list at all, i don't think this list exists. I finally work out that she's basically kicking me out. How freaking awkward. I suddenly don't have this twatty air of self-importance around me anymore.  And with my modest HP camera. I turn around and take a few more pictures and leave.