sidekick: SUMMER

Summer has swiftly come to a close, and in true style London has barely seen the sunshine. I have just come back from a lovely week in Spain with the family, and now its back to work for the ever demanding September…

Having been off the blog for a few weeks, I’ll fill you in on a fey key events in July…

THE MODEL AGENT

Following the production of ‘The Model Agent’ (www.elliseye.tv/model_agent.html), myself and Erin O’Connor hosted an evening to celebrate the girls achievements. Despite missing my original flight, I made it to Dublin just in time to enjoy the evening…We held the wee doo at ‘The Bridge Bar and Grill’, and Image magazine were there to cover the evening. It was fantastic seeing all of the girls again, it was the perfect ending to our journey!

BRAINSTORMING…

Erin and I have been working on some ideas together over the past few months and so have become quite the hostesses…We had an evening for the youth at my house. Where we invited 10 teenagers over to offer their opinions on the fashion industry, trying to get more of a grasp on our target audience…it was fascinating to hear the girls opinions and the evening bought to light some very interesting ideas!!!

THE CHANEL DOO…

Erin also held a fabulous soiree, at the Charlotte Street hotel, for a selected group to view ‘Coco avant Chanel’.

My concentration was something to be desired after having had a few glasses before the film began!! But I loved the movie… It was fascinating watching the evolution of her unadorned style, and learning of her philosophy that no luxury deserves a name if it’s not comfortable. I thought it was shot beautifully and Audrey Tatou played the perfect Coco!!!

MY FIRST CASTING!!! - All Walks Beyond The Catwalk…

Having worked in the modeling industry for over 20 years. I have witnessed first hand that it is incredibly rare in fashion to see diverse ideals of body shapes. Slimness has always been equated with beauty. It will always be a prerequisit that models are long, lean, slender and tall, but I do feel that within the industry it should not be the only message we are giving out. ‘All Walks Beyond the Catwalk is an event that will showcase eight emerging fashion designers and celebrate beauty in the most diverse ways. It has been curated by Erin O’Connor, Caryn Franklin and Debra Bourne. As soon as I heard about the initiative, I was ready to jump on board! As Alex Shulman so rightly stated ‘this current trend seems to me to be out of step with how so many women feel.’ I think it is so great that she has spoken out and I am also extremely excited to be a part of this project as I think it’s about time we as an industry observe all shapes and sizes! I really believe that personality, individuality, not conformity is the cry. This is a very exciting project for me to get involved with, I think the timing is key and now is definitely the right time. I have really enjoyed joining Deborah, Caryn and Erin on their journey.

It was so interesting to be on the other side, receiving girls for casting…rather than sending them!!! The casting took place at my home, in the 27 degree heat wave. It was so great to meet all of the girls, some that I had worked with before, and others from different agencies. We spread the casting over two days, and I saw such a variety of girls, ranging from ages 16 – 70 and sizes 6 – 16, it really was incredible and everyone was so happy with the final 8 women that I cast…The images below were featured in the latest edition of I.D Magazine. Now we look forward to the exhibition…I’ll keep you posted!!...