London Fashion Week is the highlight of any fashionistas, fashion editors and budding designers calendar. Somerset House hosts the fashion elite as the British Fashion Council puts on quite a show.
But what does it mean for me. I'm not really a fashion blogger; I rarely post about my own outfit of the day, #whatimwearing, go to blogger specific events or show my own face on my website. I write magazine editorial content for my online fashion and lifestyle magazine, www.ladympresents.co.uk. I promote up and coming designers, focus on trends and cover fashion weeks from around the world. I don't really know the "in crowd", I am the writer behind the content. London Fashion Week for me is about the experience, the collections and the excitement a new season brings.
London Fashion Week is hard to get into. Fact. You're either press, buyer, accredited blogger or nothing. This season I went as fashion correspondent for the British high street stores I have been working with recently. So I had the official "UK Press" accreditation. Finally recognised as beyond the blogger. Bloggers are everywhere at London Fashion Week - some are better than others. Some write really decent content and work as I do to promote brands (not for the freebies but for the want of giving a platform of support), they focus on new designers, they detail the trends. Then there are the street style bloggers who are all photos, no word count.. don't get me started on the mass of 15 year olds present on the cobbles of Somerset House who really don't deserve a pass. The British Fashion Council have wised up to the fact that designers want to have the fashion elite to report on their collections, the celebrities who will wear their clothes, the editors who will feature their collections in their magazines so the public can appreciate and buy also. I often used to complain about being five rows back or having to stand and only seeing the tops of models heads.
But now, actually I'm rather happy to sit at home on day three of London Fashion Week and be on the front row, virtually. Sat on my sofa, coffee in hand, notebook and laptop and watch the shows livestreamed. I get to see the entire collection, to write up content and review quickly and see all the shows possible without having to dash around London. I have been amongst the throng of it this season but I don't really need to do all the air-kissing, queueing, standing around in the cold and waiting for shows to start that are delayed. I get more out of fashion week from the comfort of my sofa. I can write content as much as I like, get great photos from the British Fashion Council press portal rather than blurry ones from the back of shows and I can really enjoy fashion week by seeing a range of designers in one day - no mad dashes in heels across town or queuing for a taxi with the fashion masses.
I know it's not the same, but I don't really need to be part of it. I leave that to the professionals. It's not my full time job. So why think that I can have a back stage pass and mingle with the fashion elite. I know my place and it's a rather comfy spot on the left hand side of my cream sofa!