Backstage at London Fashion Week 2007

I was fortunate enough to be asked to photograph backstage at Singaporean designer-extraordinaire Ashley Isham's show at London Fashion Week 2007 yesterday. His ready-to-wear range are really inspiring and stylish, but the show-stoppers must go to these ribbonesque creations in single colours that simply look fantastic (photo). The models chosen looked decidedly androgynous for these designs. Backstage photography can be difficult at times due to the low and uneven light levels, plus the models, hairstylists, assistants, dressers, not to mention, other fellow photographers from the worlds fashion media all cramped into rooms too small and often filled with all manner of props. Now I know what the basement of the Royal Opera House looks like!

So you think you are model material? First, you have to look and feel the part, but can you hack the hanging around for hours, and then have some hairstylist brush the head out of you, suffer the cans of hairspray mist, hair clips, and layers of make-up, and munch on sandwiches (delicious though these were yesterday!) Wham, 15 minutes of fame, and then its all over, or some start again at another show. Its not easy being a top model.


Fashion also means celebrities, and I managed to grab a few shots of the 'front row'. Katie Leung, the darling-girl who played the love interest of Harry Potter in the latest film was there with her male-companion. I also bumped into KakTeh, a fellow blogger who lives in London.