Reemé introduced me to Akong London and like her, immediately I was hooked. Ornate, statement handmade jewellery; some splashed with brightly coloured strands, some with urban cool chains and others with feathery trims, the Grazia featured designer Nicole Akong has an haute couture spirit and an unconventional approach to making her mini works of art.



Shoot day included a variety of looks for our models, all styled by Reemé and coached by Nina, from the tropically coloured hues for our sunlit shots to the classic red lip for Nicole’s metal work. We rallied round our star guest for the day, a pug named Sydney, who patiently waited for his debut in front of the camera for our ode-to-London, so with our models donning bowlers and umbrellas, Nicole tipped her hat to the brand’s birthplace and no amount of props, or cute black pugs, were in danger of overshadowing the jewellery in doing so. A confident new designer? Yep. With a right to be? Absolutely.

The Team:
Photographer: Joseph Sinclair
Stylist: Reemé Idris
Shoot Coordinator: Nina Malone
Make up Artist: Maria Asadi
Hair Stylist: Stephen Hamilton
Set Assistants: Tesnica Balfour & Yolanda Hutchinson

We would like to thank:
Flikhall for the amazing fashion
Strike Model Management for the girls
And Sydney the Pug.

So guys and girls, I get a text from Reeme asking if I’m interested in grooming the super talented, international choreographer Mr Jermaine Browne for some press shots. My answer? A no brainer really- with the likes of Leona Lewis and Victoria’s Secret under his client-list belt, I’m more than excited to meet and groom Jermaine and maybe even pick up some dance tips!

The shoot itself was to take place at Joseph Sinclair’s studio, which I got a teensy bit lost trying to find - but the effort was worth it because I LOVE his work! Jermaine himself is lovely and not only friendly but refreshingly down to earth and was completely open to suggestions from the creative team, which is always so nice and makes you feel properly involved!

We went for a more rugged look on the face, the beard remained while the hair was cane rowed in several different styles, complemented by the fabulous styling done by Reeme Idris and her lovely assistant Faith Herron, the looks varied from underpants (at which time I had the gruelling task of oiling Jermaine, comes with the territory I’m afraid) to the uber stylish Mac and onto the fashionably quirky checked shorts and boots. Joseph shot 4-5 different looks, some indoors, some outdoors against the beautiful backdrop of [cough] uber-glam Woolwich Dockyard - thankfully Joseph is damn talented and made the location look hot!

Thanks Reemé and the Collective for allowing me to be involved. I got a preview peek at the pics and I’m sure the final edits are going to look amazing...

http://www.jermainebrowne.com/

The Team:
Photographer: Joseph Sinclair
Grooming: Nibras Al-Wasiti
Styling: Reemé Idris
Styling Assistant: Faith Herron

If not for the cocktails served out of a double decker bus sponsored by Diesel’s ‘Be Stupid’ campaign, this was no ordinary careers fair, the festival had the kind of resources we could only have wished for, until now, with wise words from special attendees; the likes of designer William Tempest & headline speaker Dolly Jones as well as a superbly organized schedule of imaginative, relevant events for the emerging creatives of tomorrow.

We may live in a clime of cutbacks and doom mongering but the finest of the UK’s creative industries still gathered to form Futurising - a much needed antidote. Founder Marice Cumber, we tip our hats to you.

http://futurising.org/

Brighton Fashion Week – four days of fashion and frolics by the coast. Ah, so we thought. Late night drinks? Well duh, of course we would! Four midnight hot choccies please bar-lady-person, serious glucose kick needed on this deadline.

Whilst we kept our hotel’s business centre open past hours and they handed us the keys to lock up, the collapsing we did was in the direction of our three-woman bed, not the bar. The natural Collective team spirit kept pens to paper and heads well, to tables, until the fashionably early hours. There were indeed plenty of fun and frolics by Brighton’s sunny shoreline, held at the Corn Exchange, where everything from Jez Eaton’s recycled couture to the mannequin parade hosted by Flik Hall, this year’s Brighton Fashion Week truly was a visual treat. Let’s rewind.

Reemé and Nina were called in by BFW Director Liz Bishop early this year to pitch in on the preparations, everything from sponsorship to casting to sourcing designers. And with a very well organised BFW team, proud and passionate as we all were, The Collective saw a collaboration that proved to be a great success.



The ready-to-wear show soon became our pet project and by the eve of the show, with 50 models, 8 collections and a pre-show hosted by Spindle magazine to incorporate; we got armed with running orders and checklists for our 30 member backstage team and a 6am start. We did manage to squeeze in fish ‘n’ chips on the pier before running back to our hotel room to put the finishing touches on the planning, how the three of us managed to collapse exhausted into a queen sized Hilton Metropole bed without someone getting squished, squashed or kicked I don’t quite know. Personally, I think it had something to do with the fact that I’m a great three-woman-in-a-bed-sleeper (nothing fishy but the take-away guys and girls).



Show day came and went in a flash – the 50 minute ready to wear show comprising of 8 lovely designers was complemented in the afternoon show with another watchful exhibitor requesting we make space for them during the repeat show. The girls, as well as their army of backstage assistants/miracle workers, always up for challenge, of course made space in the running order and the ready-to-wear show closed Brighton Fashion Week on a high of sartorial satisfaction.



This wasn’t the first time I’ve graced a backstage with the girls but I do enjoy seeing how months of emailing and prep can be over in a literally a matter of minutes. If I shouted in one too many ears, apologies BFW team, next year we backstage coordinators may be bringing whistles… and water pistols, there’ll be no slacking on my shift.


We would like to thank our sponsors:

The Team:
Reemé: Ready-to-wear show producer
Nina: Ready-to-wear show choreographer
Tesnica Balfour: Backstage Coordinator
Upasna Rai: Backstage Coordinator

Fast forward to March and the All Walks team took the conversation around beauty and image to the Houses of Parliament on International Women’s Day for ‘Real Women: The Body Image Debate’.

On the panel were Caryn Franklin (TV presenter and co-founder of All Walks Beyond the Catwalk) Dr. Helga Dittmar, author Susie Orbach and feminist blogger Laurie Penny, alongside other leading academics, politicians and members of the media and fashion industries who debated the way forward to combat body image pressure on women and girls imposed by idealized images in the modern media.

A much needed conversation which we know will continue to inspire to do good things both in and outside of the fashion industry.

http://allwalks.org/

For anyone looking into the make-up and styling room you would be forgiven for thinking you’d stumbled upon a girls’ night in - not just because of the copious amounts of make-up, clothes and shoes that were laid out but because of the lively and friendly atmosphere! I believe there was a moment where we were all fixated over a glove for some curling tongs - a Michael Jackson impression, among others, ensued - but soon enough the girls were ready and it was time to get on set with Peter Wormleighton aka Ramdaq, our photographer for the day.

Now as cloudy as it was outside, there was a sea of colour inside the studio with the luxurious prints of Orleans Designs; you could see how Hazel was inspired by her West African heritage. After numerous touch-ups, outfit changes and a look over the images, the day was done and couldn’t have gone smoother.



It was a lovely surprise when the look book was popped through my door a few weeks later and also to see a piece in Pride Magazine. Having worked with both Reemé and Nina for almost a year now, whether we’re on a look book shoot, a fashion show or a music video The Collective seem to epitomise the phrase “it’s never work if you love what you do”.

Check out Eki Orleans featured in ‘Fashion Insider’ Pride May issue.

The Team:
Peter Wormleighton: Photographer
Nina Malone: Model/producer
Reemé Idris: Stylist/producer
Salina Thind: Hair and make-up artist
Saffi Karina: Model

Nina & Reemé collaborated with designer Nico Didonna for his A/W10 look book shooting and LFW presentation in Vauxhall Fashion Scout. Our models embodied the ‘Bright Young Things’ of the 1920’s, Didonna explaining: ‘Inspiration was drawn from the Bright Young Things of the Twenties – they way they live their lives. They were the Paris Hilton's of the Twenties with time and nothing to do, party people who drank a lot…enjoying themselves was the essence and that’s the Twenties influence I wanted to bring into the clothes, rather than traditional costume references.’





On both sets for the look book photo shoot and our day at Scout, Reemé took position as stylist whilst Nina choreographed a carefully planned walk on the slippery stage so the Bright Young Things could remain upright and fabulous during the showcase. A filmed piece was created during the photo shoot by the lovely Elizabeth Zambra, who needed some help getting the models in the 1920’s party mood at our makeshift feast… ‘Toss the oranges!’ was the icebreaking suggestion shouted by Reemé. It worked.







We would like to thank:

After being long listed to group of 10, Reemé of the Collective presented to an esteemed panel who were representing the British Council, consisting of Sarah Mower (fashion journalist and critic -Chair) Paul Alger (UK Fashion Exports) Maurice Mullen (Evening Standard) and Anne Tyrrell MBE (Anne Tyrrell Design).

We are proud to say that after less than a year in operation, Reemé now is a member (on behalf of The Collective) of the UK Young Creative Entrepreneur Club, governed by Andrew Senior (Senior Expert - Creative Economy at the British Council) who meet several times a year in London with either a leading creative entrepreneur or senior politician, giving young creative entrepreneurs from the eight categories of the UKYCE awards the chance to ask about business paths or ask direct questions about policy to support their sector’s development.

“The UKYCE club has already offered us a wealth of support, it’s been reassuring not to mention informative to hear stories from others experiencing similar journeys in not only being young upstarts, but also forging new patterns in creative and business practice. I can’t thank the British Council enough for allowing me to be part of this exciting group of young dynamic people and for bringing us some of the most respected leaders in the UK to share their valuable insights.” Reemé Idris.

Nina & Reemé collaborated with the (rather dashing) model/presenter Stephen Handisides of Handi Productions to concept & choreograph for Jigsaw’s latest and dare we say it, loveliest piece of fashion motion action, check it out here.

We would like to thank:

Whilst Reemé worked her magic backstage styling and producing the show, Glam Show Live also saw Nina make her debut on the Earl’s Court Catwalk for Sunday’s closing show along with eleven other fabulous models.



‘It was great fun to get on the catwalk, especially representing such fresh new design talent’ said Nina. Reemé adding ‘The atmosphere was great and we enjoyed watching and working alongside the teams for the other shows, Brighton Frocks and EJF (Environmental Justice Foundation)'



With thanks to:
Our awesome backstage dressers provided by London College of Fashion (Adam Watling) and to our presenter Caroline Childs and Josh of Cordless Show for the filming of the backstage and front of house footage, as well as Backstage Coordinator Kaine Anderson.

The Bloomsbury Hotel played host to a fantastic evening of fashion and music in aid of The Children’s Trust. The event included performances by some of London’s hottest new bands as well as an exclusive by Agent Lynch, the city's premiere Burlesque beauty with her stunning 'Miss Moneypenny' performance.

The Collective produced the focus of the evening’s festivities, a stunning catwalk show featuring pieces by HusseinDeyn – brainchild of Agyness Deyn’s sister Emily Deyn and design partner/university friend Aliyah Hussain. The catwalk also played stage to a host of other wonderful new designers such as Rosalind Holmes, Chantelle Rose, The Amaka Showroom, Concrete Rose and Lellow Lucy. Make up and hair looks were led by one of the Collective’s favourite gals Maria Asadi

The evening, hosted by Samuel J Hextall and organized by the lovely Kimberly Sanderson (aka Karena Sedgewick) creator of www.mynewbestfriends.co.uk was a great success for an extremely good cause and featured models such as T4's Shipwrecked Carly Stratton and latest signings to AAB International, Sanya Hughes and Emma Henry – all styled by Reemé Idris.

Read Karena’s own review of the night here.











We would like to thank:
Our lovely presenter Caroline Childs
The crew from Cordless Show
Backstage Coordinator Kaine Anderson

Featured were innovative designs by the young people of Fashion Awareness Direct as well as garments made solely of recyclable materials by the gifted students of Newham College alongside skater brand LRG and groundbreaking designs by the talented graduate designer Akousa Afriyie-Kumi.

The show, hosted by Rickie & Melvin (KISS FM) combined fashion and performance with dance routines by Latina troupe Element Dance, street dancers Inko as well as Innovate, showcasing not only the diversity of London’s designers but also it’s up and coming entertainers.

Nina said after the show: ‘It was a lot of work in preparation over the past few months but it was all worth it seeing our girls and guys up there on stage in all those stunning outfits. A massive thanks has to go to a wonderful crew of make up and hair led by Salina Thind and Nibras Al-Wasiti.’











The Team:
Nina Malone: Show Producer
Reemé Idris: Show Producer
Salina Thind: Head of Make Up
Nibras Al Wasiti: Head of Hair
Coni Longden: Backstage Coordinator
Kaine Anderson: Backstage Coordinator

We would like to thank: