Hailed by the organisers as “The premier fashion and beauty event in
Wales” I attended with my cousin, what was deemed to be, “One of the highlights...” of the
event, the ‘Fashion Showcase catwalk show’ at the Hilton Hotel last weekend. Once
we had shown our entry tickets, we purchased raffle tickets and were allowed
through to the stalls, before we queued up for the catwalk show itself. We were
lucky enough to have VIP front row seats, which allowed for a great view of the
show and free goody bag!
The event was sponsored by a
range of brands, including John Lewis, Peacocks, University of South Wales and
Queens Arcade. The show began in darkness, with a number of models who wore
matching beige trench coats and paper headwear, stood posing amongst the
audience. They slowly changed positions, with lights in their hands, which was
extremely effective and all this was set to soft music. The music then
quickened its pace and the models began performing a choreographed dance
routine, after which they removed their headwear, which now transformed into a
dressing for the stage.
The show was very professional and
lasted around an hour in total. We saw models promoting a number A/W trends
including, ‘Ladylike’, ‘Florals’, ‘Leopard Print’, ‘Gothic’, ‘Monochrome’, ‘Tartan’,
‘Eveningwear’ and ‘Streetwear’. All the outfits were put together extremely
well – I particularly liked the scarf layered over the formal coat and
jewellery styled over the evening dress. The events official stylist was Wenda James
Rowe of the Style Team. I was also impressed by the hair styling, in which top buns,
crimped hair, plaits, quiffs and afros all featured – created by the National
Hair Federation.
There were other dance elements
to the show, including an air hostess theme, where the girls wore matching hats
and patterned dresses and once again used the lights in their hands as part of
the routine. Three of the male models also performed a hip hop routine, which
was totally unexpected and included back flips and popping arms out of sockets!
For the finale, after the
traditional bridal wear has been showcased, it was on to a Las Vegas style
wedding, with all the stereotypical elements – drunken bridesmaid, colourful
wigs, sunglasses, disco ball and an outrageous tartan dress.
The music was also very well
chosen, for example ‘Diamonds’ by Rihanna for the sparkly evening dresses, Darlene
Love’s ‘(Today I Met) The Boy I’m Gonna Marry’ for the traditional bridal wear
and the popular Elvis song, ‘A Little Less Conversation’ for the Las Vegas
wedding.
Additional elements to the show
included a patchwork dress, which was put together by designer Tara Tarapetian,
after the public were invited to create a patch as part of a project
encouraging people to sew and socialise. Students from the University of South
Wales also got to showcase their designs, which were more outrageous than their
high street counterparts and the winning outfit from the charity shop competition
was revealed.
Finally before leaving, the
raffle was drawn. I was selected to pick the winning ticket and low and behold
I chose my cousins ticket - I promise it wasn’t a fix! She was lucky enough to
win a lovely berry colour John Lewis handbag, which she was extremely pleased
with.
Cardiff Fashion Week runs from
the 19th – 27th October this year and although the catwalk
shows have now ended, there are still events on across the city, which would
well be worth attending. For more information visit their website www.visitcfw.co.uk or social media accounts.
