London Fashion Week Day: 0 - The Beginning of a Fashion Era

Day 0, Thursday, 18 February

I had to be at Freemasons’ Hall at 11:00am for staff training and briefing.

I arrived a little earlier because I really did not want to be late. When I got there, I found lots of girls waiting outside, smoking and chatting. Before long, it turned into a big group and we all started talking. What really impressed me was how many people had come from all over the UK. There were girls from Manchester, one from Devon, and others from Newcastle. I have to admit, I felt quite lucky to be from London. My journey was only 24 minutes door to door.

Once everyone had gathered, we went inside the building and one of the directors asked us to head to one of the historic rooms at Freemasons’ Hall to get started.

First things first, we went through some ground rules. No eating carbs during Fashion Week and girls must wear high heels at all times… just kidding. Fashion Week is not really about that.

The main instruction was simple. We all had to wear black. They also spoke generally about what to expect during Fashion Week. Lots of stress, potential fashion disasters, and the reminder not to take it personally if people were short or rude. Stress levels would be high everywhere.

After the briefing, it was time to split into groups and assign roles.

I had no idea which position I was going to get. Some people already knew, but I had no clue. The coordinator started calling names for the backstage team, then front of house. Still no sign of my name. I started thinking, what happened to me?

Then came the Media Centre. And there it was. My name.

I was assigned to the Media Centre team, which consisted of five people. I thought, great. Even though I did not fully know what the Media Centre responsibilities were, it immediately made sense in my head. Since I am studying PR, it felt like a perfect fit.

Once everyone was assigned, the VFS director gave us a tour of the building and showed us all the areas where Fashion Week would take place. From the catwalk to the exhibition room, from the presentation spaces to the Media Centre.

Before I realised it, it was already 4:30pm. After the full tour and getting familiar with the building, we finally started talking in detail about responsibilities.

The Media Centre would essentially be the press lounge. Journalists, bloggers, photographers, and other members of the press would come there to collect press materials for the shows and designers, as well as use the IT facilities to tweet, blog, and email.

Our role was to assist them, provide information about designers and shows, and answer general questions about the fashion schedule. We also had to carry out daily fashion research, tracking any online and offline media coverage. Whenever we found something related to us, we had to record and archive it.

I remember thinking to myself, perfect. I honestly could not have asked for anything better.

So yes, that was Day 0. Very easy. I left feeling excited and could not wait to come back the next day for the grand opening of London Fashion Week AW10.

Georgios.