New York Fashion Week 2018!
I am incredibly proud of my role as Creative Director of one of NYFW's largest and most diverse shows in Manhatten, and am lucky to have built a wonderful 'family' across the pond over the years since my first show back in 2015.
Six seasons later and I have just returned from the Spring 2018 show and although i'm glad to be back in the good old UK, I do miss the most magical, fast paced and exciting city on earth.
This season we had more than 20 designers from all over the world and my Hair & Makeup designs were influenced by upcoming spring trends such as my 'psychotropical' ombre lip - a fusion of tropcal fuscias and corals, and some wicked geometric monochrome designs, along with the classic nude & dewy runway look.
Hair saw softly braided updos, rockin' fauxhawks and classic chignons as well as loose and natural beach waves and sleek ponytails.
Organising and running such a high profile, fast paced live event with a whole host of global media present really pushes my adrenaline buttons and gives me the creative and managerial challenge that IP need to keep my skills sharpened, and my designs on trend, and it's great to be able to bring back a slice of the big apple to my work back in the UK.
It takes me 4 months of planning and coordinating from the UK before I fly out, working with a multitude of designers with varying language barriers!, recruiting the Creative Team from hundreds of applicants down to just 120 across 2 shifts, as well as a kick ass management team, wardrobe & styling team and a team of coordinators to make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible when it comes to showtime!
On the day it's pretty much full on from the 7am call time right through until 11pm (or sometimes later!) wrap time. With designers showing every 15 minutes throughout the day, all with different hair and makeup looks, there are plenty of quick changes (and by quick, sometimes we have 2 minutes to get a models outfit, hair and makeup changed so we need the very best in the business to be stage-side!)
There is nothing quite like the drama of a live show, and navigating NYFW is the best of the best and the highlight of my career to date.
After 24 hours recovery time we head out to Times Square for our Editorial Shoot with some of the beautiful models and very best designers so another creative angle for me with prepping, directing and managing the team for a live shoot in the busiest part of one of the busiest cities on the planet - not for the faint-hearted I can tell you!
One of the best parts of the whole experience is being able to work with some fantastic creative brands to create the looks - and this season was no exception!
We were able to create some amazing Tropical influenced looks with Moonglow Cosmetics (aewsome UV & Neon products form the UK - you can see them on our fabulous UV shoot too!)
We were able to create some stunning hair designs using creative colouring prep work with Hermans Amazing Hair Colors (vegan friendly and uber bright!).
For skincare, we were lucky enough to have a rep from REN with us and found some brilliant secret weapons in their arsenal to give us perfect bases, and gorgeous glowy, runway ready skin!
Check out my latest NYFW showreel!:
So what's next?
Back to focussing full steam ahead on Art & Soul Tribe and Alternative Fashion Fest shows and shoots, I wont be heading over for September season (little one starting high school and big one 19th birthday!), so October will be planning and prep launch time ready for Feb 2019 season!
Watch this space for a sneaky preview later in the year, and in the mean time take a look at this years gallery below!
Jane x
