London Fashion Week is a clothing trade show that takes place in London twice a year, in February and September.
Yesterday was the final day of the September edition and Vicarstown native Clare Coleman was working over there.
The CoCo Hairsalon owner worked on the Revlon Professional UK backstage artistic team at the show and shared her experience with us.
How did you end up at London Fashion Week?
As a Revlon UK salon for the past seven years, and previously having trained with Revlon Professional at David Marshalls, they ask customers to apply for a position on their Backstage Artistic Team to work at fashion weeks.
I applied (little did I know so too did over 2000 other people) and was invited forward to a training week in Leeds at the Revlon Training Academy with John Vial the Revlon Global Ambassador and the lead hair stylist for London Fashion Week.
The training was amazing and genuinely having got that far was an achievement in itself as only 30 people got that far. I received an email then to say I’d made it onto the Artistic team.
We know you’re in London but where exactly does it take place?
London Fashion Week is spread across the entire city at different venues.
The designers contact Revlon Professional UK for Hair and then John Vial will go and meet with the designer and stylist to do the hair test and if they are happy with John, he will get the job and then as John’s backstage team we are notified.
What was the experience been like so far?
The experience was, hands down, the most amazing, craziest, and stressful experience of my career to date.
How were you feeling after Day 1?
After my first show I was on an extreme high. The day flies by. Normally the call time for models for makeup and hair is four hours before the show starts but in this time you have to allow for models to be taken away from you for dress rehearsals, show walk-throughs and various other reasons – so the actual styling time is only about two hours.
Was it what you thought it would be?
It definitely was exactly what I thought it would be. As a fashion enthusiast, as well as a hair stylist, I’ve often watched various fashion shows on social media from backstage and it always looks pretty hectic and that it was.
I’m lucky that I work better under pressure and i forget everything around me and concentrate on the job in hand.
Did you meet many other Irish stylists? Anyone from Laois or surrounds?
There are four of us from Ireland on the team from other counties north and south. The rest of the team are from the UK and one girl from Australia.
John also had some of his salon staff added to the team for extra support as it was a big show so it was lovely to work alongside Amal Clooney’s hairstylist.
Donna Air popped backstage for a quick top up on her blowdry , that was the only famous face I seen as it was just too crazy and hectic to even notice anyone.
Would you do it again? or recommend to others?
Would I do it again? 100% yes in a heartbeat. John himself said this was his most stressful show to date as there were 40 models, little time and a fussy stylist to the designer.
What styles/looks were you asked to create?
We were assisting John Vial (global ambassador for Revlon Professional) at the show of the designer Mary Katrantzou. It was a big deal as it was her 10th anniversary show. Everyone from British Vogue to Boohoo were in the audience.
Her show was based on reiterating the concept of framing, capturing and celebrating ten years of the designer herself and her styles over the last decade. This was obviously a showcase for Spring Summer ’19 .
The hairstyles themselves were quiet sleek and consisted of clean lines on top of the head into a sleek wet look ponytail. It all seems quiet basic but it was far from basic when your lines had to be exact and under the lights of a catwalk nothing is hidden.
What’s happening next?
Going forward we will be back to Leeds in the new year for more training and then looking forward to Autumn /Winter ’19 Fashion Week.
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