LFW on a budget: Charity Fashion Live

It’s official that London Fashion Week is over for this season (no matter how many fashion themed party or events we try to go to)* insert sad face*. With Milan Fashion Week in full swing, we are looking back at what caught our attention during LFW SS15.

Fashion week is about designers giving us their vision of what future trends will filter down from the expensive catwalks, to the more affordable high street. As I watched the shows via the live stream, I saw so many pretty things that need to find their way into my wardrobe. Gorgeous print dresses from Matthew Williamson to the bold colours and shapes used by Rosanda, I lusted over so many pieces.

Gorgeous dress by Matthew Williamson, SS15 (I need this in my life!!!!)

But who’s to say that we can’t achieve these looks on a budget?

Stylist Emma Slade from Back of the Wardrobe, challenged herself and her team to recreate catwalk looks only using items found in a charity shop minutes after they appeared on the catwalk. This project is known as ‘Charity Fashion Live’. As an advocate for sustainable fashion, Emma is out to prove you don’t need a big budget to stay on trend. Having had huge success with this challenge in the past, this time round she teamed up with The British Red Cross. As an extra bonus the looks created were put up for auction in a bid to help The British Red Cross raise money for the great work they do.

The project has been another success for Emma. This year she recreated looks from Holly Fulton, Jasper Conran and Sibling. All of the recreations were spot on and captured the essence of the look being recreated, proving we can achieve a catwalk look of our own without having to break the bank.

Jasper Conran recreation

Holly Fulton recreation

 

One of my favourite looks recreated was this fab black knitted dress from the designers Sibling

Siblings have given Emma’s work the stamp approval by tweeting:

“Your catwalk look always makes us smile”

Check out the link to watch the short film on this project to see all the other amazing recreations Emma was able to achieve.

www.youtube.com/embed/JXIBqryQLqv

Go to www.backofthewardobe.com to see the stills of the other recreations and for more info on the work done by Back of the wardrobe. For daily updates follow Emma on twitter @backofthewardrobe

Words by Ms Chi