On/Off Presents...

A couple of nights ago I was lucky enough to go to the 'On/Off Presents...' show at the Science Museum, courtsey of fashion156.com. They ran a competition recently for a pair of tickets, and VIP treatment (incluing goody bags worth �50), which I was lucky enough to win! I was waiting to tell you about this, as they wanted me to write a little piece about the experience, but it still hasn't gone onto their blog, so here it is...

As the blacked out private car pulled up outside my dingy little East-end flat, I knew this was going to be a night to remember. I was lucky enough to win a pair of tickets to the �On/Off Presents�� show last night, sponsored by Evian and provided by your very own fashion156 team. We arrived at the Science Museum in true VIP style, and found our way upstairs to the amazing location for On/Off this season. Being a humble competition winner, I was quite impressed with the celebrity turnout to an �emerging talent� show - I spotted Heidi Sugarbabe and her boyfriend Dave Berry, Jodie Kidd, Jamie Winestone, Gok Wan and the DJ Jodie Harsh. After some inevitable queuing and hanging around (this is fashion after-all) my guest and I were ushered into the wonderful exhibition space, which showcased the work of designers such as Jasper Garvida, Manjit Deu, JSmith Esquire, Reem and Richard Sorger inside giant silver, inflatable �rooms�.

Sadly some PR confusion meant that we did not receive the On/Off goody bags and were seated towards the back, but we got seats at the show none-the-less (behind a snuggling Sugarbabe/Berry!). On/Off Presents is known for propelling designers into the limelight, with Alumni including Mark Fast and Alexander Koutny, and tonight�s designers are set for similar treatment. Menswear label Q.E.D. opened the show with a minimalistic take on menswear, and a very subdued colour palette allowed the eye to concentrate on the detailing and the clean, sophisticated cut of the garments. Cecilia Mary Robson and Rozalb de Mura followed, with very wearable collections (I believe Cecilia Mary Robson was even featured in the latest fashion156 issue) but it was the closing designer, Rachel Freire which really caught my attention. She has a background in styling and costume design, which was apparent in her sculptural, fringed bolero jackets and Minotaur inspired headpieces crafted from hair.

Rachel Freire

After the show everyone filtered back into the exhibition space where free cocktails flowed, but I may have had one too many as the tube journey home was a little more entertaining than it should have been. These are definitely names to watch, and it was a night to remember thanks to fashion156, Evian and On/Off.

Cecilia Mary Robson

Rozalb de Mura

Q.E.D

Now a little bit of honesty! There was quite a major mess-up with the PR company (no fault of fashion156) leaving me and my guest with no actual tickets, which meant we had to blag our way in, convincing people with clipboards that we were actually on the list for the show. This obviously meant that we were seated RIGHT at the back, with a poor view of the show and NO goody bags. After spending almost an hour in the queue trying to get in I was throroughly pissed off, only to learn that we were not getting this ominous goody bag. It was a good experience, however it was tainted by the aformentioned events. This is the onlyo show I went to this year, and I am extremely grateful of fashion156 for giving me the opportunity, however as Queen Michelle (and various others around the net) has mentioned LFW seemed to be tainted by poor treatment of guests/press at shows and a general lack of organisation. I do hope this hasn't been the case across the whole schedule, as this will give London an embarassingly bad name wto the worlds media.