Runway lights and an infectious base that resonates all the way down to your bones. Anticipation in the air- for the show, the clothes and to see your friends strutting their stuff. A charity fashion show is an event unlike any other.
For their 2018 show the Catwalk director and committee played on dichotomies. Highland quilts, silk robes straight out of a Victorian boudoir and the avant-garde, art made wearable. A sort of dance of paradigms, the very theme of the show. Tradition and modernity: corsets and hoop skirts next to graphic t-shirts and swimwear. The fierce confidence of the models alongside infectious grins as their friends cheered them on. Remember the classic nightmare of showing up to school in your underwear, oh how the tables have turned- the lingerie walk provoked decibels not unlike a jet taking off.
The show and audience were in sync, reflections of each other. Trainers paired with cocktail dresses, brightly patterned suits- it was a night of risk taking. Of blurring the lines that keep our lives in neat little boxes. Fashion like this takes the absurdity of the world & inverses it on our own terms. Shout out to the guy in the floral brocade sport coat.
As an event, it mirrored all walks of life, from the catwalk and beyond. The variety of styles and inspirations was matched by the diversity of bodies. Models were real people, another dichotomy in the fashion world. Catwalk 2018 was show truly for the people. So much so that I found myself eyeing one of the dresses, reckoning if I could sneak backstage and “borrow” it. The mark of a good fashion show: one that inspires grand theft couture from its audience.
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