How to enjoy London Fashion Week when you're not a V.I.P

#IFS Entrance

You would be surprised how many people think Fashion Week is not for them. However, this is totally false idea, you can still enjoy Fashion Week even if you are not named Cara Delevingne or Alexa Chung. Here at My Green Bag, we can give you some tips to be trendy and have some fun. Like all fashion lovers we were planning to visit some London Fashion Week shows to be amongst the firsts to see the outstanding collections and for sheer entertainment. We soon found out there is a lot that goes around the event apart from the ‘celebrity runway’.

So we decided to have a closer look. Another event held by the London Fashion Week would take place at the same time as the runway shows in Somerset House. This event called the International Fashion Showcase, takes place all over London and this year it showcased 110 creators from 30 countries, and guess what? There’s no need to be the it-girl of the moment or be called Karl Lagerfeld, this exciting show is entirely free.

However because we can be naïve sometimes, we still decided to try to access to Somerset House anyways. Safe to say, we just had time to say “Hello, Goodbye”. No tickets, no pass, no joy. Well, at least we tried.

IFS Entrance, Guide and Guest Bracelet

So now, to International Fashion Showcase we go. The first stop of the IFS is the third floor of a parking in Brewer Street, interesting location, indeed. We are greeted by security, still feeling the stinging rejection of Somerset House, we are really pleased to see they are friendly and they even show us the way. We are given a guide and a “guest” bracelet. To describe the atmosphere in that parking lot is quite tricky. To use that obnoxious sentence “I guess, you had to be there”, the vast room was buzzing with excitement and creativity. The room looks like it is still under construction, a lot of scaffolding, wooden boards, plastic curtains etc… Creating the vibe that Fashion is eternally moving.

Columbia at the IFS

Portugal at the IFS

The fun thing about this showcase is that you can talk to the creators, you can touch the clothes. Some of the clothes are actually on hanging trails just for you to take a better look, you can walk around the clothed mannequins. Creativity is literally all around you. London, being a multicultural city was really the perfect city to host such event, you can really feel the diversity in this exhibition. It is really nice to see diverse horizons that create a somehow united chaos of Fashion.

South Africa at the IFS

It is the end for the exhibition at the Brewer Street Car Park, however it is not the end of Fashion Week for us. It is now time to see the Korean designers whose creations are shown at the Korean Culture Centre UK. The atmosphere is totally different, Brewer Street was rocking that hectic look in a quite dark atmosphere. The Korean fashion aims for a more stripped down look, associating white with a touch of bright colours sometimes. Whereas Brewer Street was crowded and noisy creating that inspirational buzz, the Korean Culture Centre is quieter. You are alone with your thoughts, yet it doesn’t mean it is less inspirational. Both atmosphere were a good environment for creative minds.

Korean Fashion for the IFS

The rest of our Fashion Week experience was quite a complete failure. We decided to visit two other places: the Japan exhibition and the Romanian one. We first went to the Japanese Embassy to find out the exhibition was in a small room, where photographs were prohibited. And then we went to the Romanian Embassy and realised the building was closed.

To end on a positive note, we can say that we greatly enjoyed this “off-track” Fashion Week experience. Sometimes, it is good to remember that fashion is for everyone. Inspiration can be found everywhere but surrounding yourself by creative people sure helps.

And here are a few other picture of the International Fashion Showcase for you.

Argentina at the IFS

Georgia at the IFS (wouldn’t Emma Stone be gorgeous in that outfit?)

Thailand at the IFS

Pakistan at the IFS

Brazil at the IFS

Ireland at the IFS

Austria at the IFS

Fairy Tale Ensemble Czech Republic at the IFS

Ending of the IFS

Thank you to the British Council and London Fashion Week for making all of that possible.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article, and it will inspire you to go to the next Fashion Week, if possible.

Stay Trendy

MGB xx