Emma Farrow, Topshop design director.

I met up with Topshop design director Emma Farrow at the Topshop show space at the Tate Modern just as she wrapped up a listen-thru of the music before the Fall 2013 show.

On the starting point for the collection: “We wanted to stick with a British theme, so we were looking at our urban heritage—but not really wanting to do country houses and National Trust.  It’s more about that real British girl, like Justine [Frischmann] from the band Elastica—she’s quite a tough girl but she’s really sexy and feminine. We started with her music, but some of the tracks were quite guitary with riffs, and it just didn’t work in the space.”

On the venue and the music: “This space feels like Blade Runner, but the industrial feel works really well for me. And the acoustics are so amazing here, but we were quite conscious that it’s a very monastic, impressive space. With the collection, it was very important that the music be uplifting, so we’ve got a very British theme. And the ’90s are still important so we were looking at the Brit Pop era. We’ve normally had all female vocals at our shows, so that was our brief to begin with, to keep it feminine. But actually, we made the change [the day before the show] to have the Smiths in, so we have these charming male vocals included at the end.” (The show also featured tracks from Brit electronia bands Beats International and Saint Etienne—both have female vocals.)

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All photography by Nicole Comeau from theionfashion.com

The Girl: Dani Stahl, editor-at-large for Nylon Magazine @danistahl

The Location: Cannon Street in London before the Christopher Kane show.

The Look: Modern baroque in head-to-toe Louis Vuitton.

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All photography by Nicole Comeau from theionfashion.com

The Girl: Anna Knauf, buyer at styleblog.com

The Location: Somerset House, London Fashion Week central hub.

The Look: Exotic animal chic in a DVF coat and scarf, Chanel bag and boots, Hermes bracelets and Celine sunglasses.

Quoted: ”I am wearing so many labels today, a mix of high and mid-street fashion!”

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It was a mob scene backstage at Burberry when Cara Delevingne was in the makeup chair.

We snagged two (just two!) minutes in the makeup chair with Cara Delevingne—Burberry It girl, London Fashion Week’s hottest model, and model of the year at the 2012 British Fashion Awards.

Delevingne’s top beauty advice for aspiring models:

1. Practise makes perfect. “Get the biggest heels possible and make sure you practise walking in them. A lot. I had to learn that the hard way by being laughed at [laughs].”

2. Take care of your feet. “Buy a foot bath spa thing. That’s always good. And Epsom salts to bathe in at nighttime.”

3. Keep it simple when it comes to skin care. Her go-to item: “Simple face wipes.” On facials?: “I haven’t had time.”

4. Most importantly, always ask for extra mascara. As Burberry Beauty artistic consultant Wendy Rowe finished up Delevingne’s makeup (a subtle, nod to the ’60s with a golden glow—more to come on that in the next post), Delevingne pouted sweetly and pleaded for extra mascara on her bottom lashes. “See, I can’t give special treatment,” Rowe replied with a coy smile before applying a few extra coats to Delevingne’s top lashes. “Oh, that little bit of mascara is all the extra!” Delevingne cooed as she ran off to hair.

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All photography by Nicole Comeau from theionfashion.com

The Girl: Suzanne Timmins, native Torontonian and fashion director at Hudson Bay Co.,  @suzanne_timmins

The Location: Somerset House, London Fashion Week central.

The Look: Western tailored chic in Joseph coat, Theory jacket, Calvin Klein shirt, J Brand jeans, Rodarte belt.

Quoted: ”London Fashion Week is all about individuality. No one follows the trends here, they follow their soul and heart!  That’s what makes it so interesting.”

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There’s lots of free food to be found at London Fashion Week—if you have time to eat it while running between back-to-back shows.  My first stop was the VIP media lounge at Somerset House, the home of London Fashion Week. It’s a little tricky to find—behind a white wall and velvet rope in the main show space—but once you enter, you feel like you’ve arrived in a cozy, modern forest. There’s a whitewashed fireplace (showcasing a whimsical tree with little birds), a backlit wall of painted trees, and bookcases filled with knickknacks like silver rabbit figurines (I’ve included some photos at the end).

I also munched on the free bags of gourmet popcorn that are constantly being handed out at the main venue—they can’t be avoided. And since it’s “under 100 calories” a bag, the fashion crowd can actually be seen eating it! (Plus, it’s a much yummier choice than the fibre/granola/breakfast bars which have become ubiquitous at NYFW and Toronto Fashion Week…) This bag is a sour cream and chive flavour, but I prefer the sea salt. Still on the lookout for the sweet chili version.

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 Christopher Raeburn, Fall/Winter 2013. All runway photos by Imaxtree.com.

It’s the tiniest fashion show invitation I’ve ever received. For his seventh namesake collection, British designer Christopher Raeburn (who also moonlights as the creative director of Victorinox), sent out thumb-sized bottles (complete with a cork cap). Inside each one was a little rolled piece of fabric with the show details—a true fashion-forward message in a bottle. How cute!

I caught up with Christopher after his runway show.

On the invitation

“The message in the bottle links to our naval theme for the season. We do unique invites every season—we’ve done everything from a toy parachute to fabric and texture-based invitations.”

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A sleek runway look from Thomas Tait’s Spring/Summer 2013 collection. Image courtesy of ImaxTree.com.

I was seated a row behind Anna Wintour at the Roksanda Ilincic show today, and as I waited for the everything to start, I watched Wintour interact with the crowd. A woman in her mid-thirties slid into the empty seat next to the Vogue editrix. “Will you take a picture with me?” she asked hopefully. Wintour, barely looking at the woman, gave the tiniest flick of her head. A bodyguard took the woman’s phone and snapped a quick pic of the pair. I watched, mouth agape, as the BlackBerry was then surrendered to Anna Wintour to approve the image. She apparently didn’t like what she saw, so they posed for another. This one was more to her liking, and the woman was given back her phone, minus the unsatisfactory picture, and dismissed. It was weird.

But then again, it’s Day Five of London Fashion Week, and everyone’s getting a bit weird. First of all, the tents are like Contagion. On Day One, a few people were coughing. Now, by Day Five, you can’t escape the raspy, sniffling editors, who have been subsisting on little more than coffee and champagne for days now. The paps are starting to feel it too. During the Roksanda Ilincic show, a model missed her turn on the runway, and accidentally bypassed photogs in the pit—there was a serious uproar. The forty or so photographers started to scream in protest, and the poor girl had to keep walking like nothing had happened. “She just died a little bit inside,” whispered the editor next to me.

Read on for Alannah’s highlight reel from day 5 at London Fashion Week!

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Runway shot from Erdem’s Spring/Summer 2013 collection. Image courtesy of ImaxTree.com.

Picture this: You’re an emerging designer, and have been working on your collection for months. All you need is ten minutes of smooth sailing—no glitches, no technical difficulties, no wardrobe malfunctions—during London Fashion Week, and you’re in the clear. The countless hours you’ve spent testing hair and makeup, fixing the most minute of details and obsessing over hemlines has all been worth it. But, five minutes into your show, you lose power in the venue. It’s the ultimate “Why Me?” moment, and it happened to Erdem Moralioglu at his Spring/Summer 2013 collection today. That’s right, Erdem lost power in front of Anna Wintour, Downton’s Lady Mary, and about two hundred other editors. It could have been a disaster.

But lucky for the ex-pat Canuck designer, his models acted like pros—they kept walking as though the music and lights were still on. The power failure only lasted a couple of heart-stopping minutes, and when it came back on everyone cheered. (Even Anna Wintour cracked a smile). And no amount of technical difficulties could disguise the fact that Erdem has come into his own as a designer. He presented a flawless collection filled with snakeskin, lace and florals (of course) in pastels and pops of neon. It was beautiful, and so ladylike, and actually gave me chills as it went down the runway.

Read on for Alannah’s highlight reel from day 3 at London Fashion Week!

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