Raven Smith gives an alternative view of fashion week from the front row
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Although I prefer going places where I’m the most attractive person in the room, this week I went backstage at Molly Goddard’s LFW show. Let me paint you a picture. Imagine, if you will, the most diverse crowd of beautiful girls in incredible dresses versus a 33-year-old man in deep, deep denial about his hairline. I’ve seen way too many episodes of Project Runway, so I was expecting absolute panic and carnage and missing models and girls getting sewn into outfits and maybe even a little punch-up, but it was actually reasonably chill backstage. The limit of nutso was one guy who kept saying ‘please no shoes on the carpet’ and was slowly losing his voice like the bunny next to the Duracell bunny.
After emerging from backstage I went to go and take my seat – making it a day that will go down in history as the day I nearly sat next to Sadiq Khan on the front row at London Fashion Week. I have nearly met some really famous people – I think I once passed Badly Drawn Boy on the motorway – but I was shook by this next-door-but-one seating arrangement with London’s mayor. He’s an idol of mine because he has the two magic qualities it takes to make me fall in love with you: you have a moral compass; you aren’t a div. Let’s just say the show was off to a good start.
“Edie Campbell opened the show smoking an e-cig, the kind of thing you have to have at parties where there’s real carpet and other flammable nice stuff”
Which wasn’t surprising, considering Goddard’s rep – while most shows have models walking in front of you like the little conveyor belts of sushi, her presentations always break that mould – one had a group of girls doing a life drawing class (naked subject included) and at another there was sandwich making. This year the theme seemed to be that part of a classy house party, probably in west London, when all the random people have left and you and your friends are drunk enough to show-off, but for each other rather than fit boys. The whole thing reeked of good times and good friends in an effortless way.
Edie Campbell opened the show in a white dress and biker boots, swilling some champagne and smoking an e-cig, the kind of thing you have to have at parties where there’s real carpet and other flammable nice stuff. She was followed by girls who ascended sets of little white steps and twirled in dresses and skirts – some resembled Goddard’s signature tulle extravaganzas, but there were also colourful cardis and smock dresses, as well as sparkling shifts. And when I say twirled, I really mean it – to whoops and cheers from the audience they danced down the runway. The final surprise? Proper old-school legend of a model Erin O’Connor closed the show, to the guests’ glee. Great clothes + great models = great vibes. It’s a simple recipe.
And really, fashion week is all about simple recipes. The right girl + the right dress = a moment. Making sure people see the right girl in that dress can be a logistical nightmare, like getting through passport control in a hurry, during August, with your in-laws. But as both the show itself and the perfectly organised behind the scenes area attested, Molly Goddard is a pro.
Watch the backstage video below:
