Saturday 30 July 2011

My recently published article. x


MOVE OVER MILAN... LEEDS STRUTS ITS CATWALK STUFF



Youngsters from the city are now rivalling the best in the world, according to Nailah Rena Lone

You often hear about aspiring fashionistas travelling far and wide to renowned fashion capitals to pursue careers within the industry.

But there is a new city setting the scene for the cool and exclusive crowd. Forget about Milan, Paris and New York – Leeds is now taking the limelight. Now a prestigious city, it has encapsulated fashion students, photographers, make-up artists, designers, stylists, models, and the like. Leeds Fashion Show has taken full advantage of that fact, providing a platform for hopefuls to show off their talent.

The show looks to work with young people to bridge the gap between education and the fashion industry. Young adults are given the opportunity to take part in the full range of tasks essential for production of the show, including designing the garments for the red carpet. The chance to make frocks for Leeds’ top models gives the designers and stylists a real-life insight into the fashion world.

Organisers hope the event will unearth the next Alexander McQueen. Such a chance is given by fashion label Accent, as they hold the competition ‘Dress me beautiful’ which allows up-coming fashionistas to show case their most favorable designs to an audience of public’s, experts and celebrities.  Accent Clothing sponsors the winner of the Designer of the Year Award, and in doing so last years winner Samantha Davy has her collection from the show available on the Accent website.

Samantha Davy says her designs for the show were inspired from laid back festival styles, while the fabrics and colours were influenced by different cultures and hand-crafts. Upon winning she said “I was so shocked when I won, I was worrying about the sewing all day and hadn’t even thought about winning, but I couldn’t be more excited to have my designs on the Accent website”.

The aim of the Fashion Show is to attract up-and-coming, undiscovered talent to the realm of fashion. The Fashion Show believes in spotting a new generation of fashionistas and putting them in the spotlight. This gives the new generation of fashion designers a chance to be valued in the limelight.

The young people of the Fashion Show are provided with hands on workshops and industry days to high profile catwalk events. Developing the confidence and experience they need for succeeding in the future. 

The event is held during the same time as similar fashion related events such as; the Harvey Nichols in association with Elle magazine Beauty Event, and Vogue’s Fashion Night Out which is held at Harvey Nichols too, Leeds Loves Shopping week, VQ Birthday Celebration, and also Leeds Rocks. It gives Leeds even more clout in the fashion world - allowing local guys and girls to rival the likes of Givenchy.

Thursday 14 July 2011

Time for change. x

It's a lot harder to say no, than to smile and nod. But remember, you're a leader, not a follower. Stand up for what you believe in because you can fool the world, but you can't fool your heart. Don't settle for the easy options in life when you know better! ‘Ignorance is bliss’ is nothing but a lie. x