Last Friday, along with 200 of Bristol’s best dressed fashion fanatics, I took my seat at Bristol Fashion Week’s first ever Live Blogging Event. Cribbs Causeway’s biannual event presents each fashion season from a high street point of view, through catwalk shows, pampering treats and discounts and competitions for all the brands that take part – hurrah!
I love going to BFW every season and I was interested to see how the Mall team would approach their first blogger dominated show. I didn’t see many laptops inside the tent but there was plenty of tweeting going on – particularly whenever a male model came on stage. M&S provided the pink fizz and fondant fancies, both of which hit the spot after a loooong week at work!
I took my seat with the lovely Amy from Annie by Amy and Charlotte of Charlotte’s Web and it wasn’t long before the lights went down and hosts Mark Heyes and Andrew Barton appeared on stage. This duo have been presenting BFW for yonks and I love the way Mark’s perkiness is tempered with Andrew’s bitting comments and the general banter between them.
Each scene of the show covered a key S/S12 trend, including pastels, sports lux and tribal prints, with the more predictable high street summer staples – wedding-friendly prom dresses, suits and beachwear. The difference this year is that with a blogger-friendly audience, most of us knew what to expect – those that went to LFW last September saw first-hand what trends designers were loving, and we’ve seen enough articles, trend reports and outfit posts to know that pastels are So Hot Right Now.
It made sense then, that BFW chose to open with a candy cane scene from John Lewis, complete with bubblegum blue lips and giant cellophane collars. Half a dozen models striking robotic poses in pretty pastel dresses was the perfect way to open the show and I felt there was a heavy influence of Katy Perry, Meadham Kirchhoff, Lady Gaga and Louis Vuitton in there.
While I’m not sure I could pull off pastels, I did fall in love with the tribal print scene, mid-century Mad Men-esque outfits from Jigsaw, and gorgeous tropical prints by Oasis. I also loved the production values (is that even the correct term, or does that sound like the most pompous thing you’ve ever heard?) Basically, I loved the music, the graphic backdrops and the tightness of each scene – this season the added dance numbers and acting didn’t overpower the show, or the clothes. What did you think of the show?
I’ve got lots more photos to come, so there will be another post shortly, but for now here are some of my best bits of BFW S/S12…
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