Harvey Nichols SS/13 Fashion Show

I had the pleasure of working at Harvey Nichols in Birmingham for a few days in order to help them prepare for their Spring / Summer preview fashion show, which was set to be their biggest yet.
I did general jobs really, absolutely anything that needed doing! It was great to work within a luxury department store and to see how they pulled the clothes to put the show together. As each store is completely different with different stock, and Birmingham is a smaller boutique version of the bigger Harvey Nichols, quite a lot of the clothes were brought over from the flagship store in Knightsbridge. Here's the images i took throughout the day and night, a super long (I was up at 7:30 am and arrived home at 3:00am!!) but amazingly enjoyable day.

models arriving at show space

show space

Harvey Nichols Spring / Summer 2013

womenswear rails

beauty corner

rail of outfits

menswear rails

ready to go

 The models arrived about 11am and began their fittings straight away, just in case we needed to change any sizes! After their fittings I had to then paint all of their nails and toenails, which was a little nerve racking but it was a great chance to get to know the girls and they were great fun and super friendly. There were a few familiar faces, one of them being Jade - winner of Britains Next Top Model - I absolutely loved her on the show so i was really excited to get to work with her. As well as Alisha, runner up on Britains Next Top Model and who also made it onto Americas Next Top Model: British Invasion - who i had the pleasure of dressing. It was great getting to know her and talk to her all about her experiences (I was particularly interested in what Elle Macpherson and Tyra Banks were like) and she was such a laugh.
As Alisha has a blog, I tried to fit in time to take photos for her in all of her looks which I then whatsapped over to her so that we could both use them. Here are all of her outfits and what they were:

TREND: WHITE
Tom Ford sunglasses £233
Alice + Olivia jacket £430
Finders Keepers shirt £100
7 For All Mankind jeans £245
Michael Kors sandal 

TREND: COLOUR POP
Diane Von Furstenburg blazer £350
T by Alexander Wang dress £250
Alexander Wang bag £649
Chanel sunglasses £185
Nicholas Kirkwood pump £585

TREND: FOIL
Diane Von Furstenburg jacket £480
Markus Lupfur shirt
Diane Von Furstenburg shorts £320
Michael Kors sandal

TREND: MIXED PRINTS
Suno blazer £470
MSGM top £195
Suno trouser £355
Sophia Webster sandal £355

TREND: MONOCHROME
Malene Birger top £170
Malene Birger trouser £179
Michael Kors sandal

TREND: FANTASY FROCKS
Erdem dress £4705
Sophia Webster sandal £355

 As you can see, the show was divided into trends for the summer. All of Alisha's outfits looked absolutely amazing on her but my favourites has to be the colour pop trend; with the Alexander Wang shirt dress and orange bag, as well as the to-die-for Erdem dress!! From the pictures it looked like we had quite a long time in between changes but we only really had a few minutes maximum before she had to line up again, and those Michael Kors sandals were a nightmare to get on quickly. Here are some more general shots backstage...

Jade's rail

first look: white trend

boys and girls: white trend

fantasy frocks: the Roksanda Illinic dress, far right, my favourite of the whole show.

fantasy frocks: male version

The whole show was a complete, sell-out, success and had such a buzz around it - hailed the biggest, best, most fashionable show for Birmingham ever to host. It was such a pleasure to work for Harvey Nichols and to be a part of such a successful event. Every moment was enjoyable, working with such great people, including people from the head office (stylist and event manager) and getting to see some great fashion in my hometown was incredible. Who knew Birmingham could be so luxuriously fashionable. Harvey Nichols is a really great store with some amazing staff who I'm going to miss being around, I've never felt so at home or as welcome whilst doing a work placement.

The after party was, as I expected,  was incredible. It began with a 15% off event in store for people from the fashion show, with champagne and canapés. Most of us, workers, models and VIPS then moved to Marco Pierre White's Moet champagne bar in the Cube, which was hired out exclusively for the party. We enjoyed free champagne and 360 degree views of a snowy Birmingham at 25 floors up. We then scooted over to Mechu, where they had hired out the VIP area greeted by a free bar tab, three bottles of Vodka on a table and champagne on call. As you can tell, it was a very drunken night followed by a very hungover day cleaning up the show space on Friday!!!

I feel incredibly lucky to have experienced those few days, it was completely out of this world.

Moet champagne bar, the Cube

Moet champagne bar, the Cube

Mechu VIP

Mechu VIP

Carrie & I, Mechu

other work experience girls and I, Mechu

Vince and I, Mechu

Jared and I, Mechu