I loathe Camden. It’s full of über-cool girls who have the brains and balls to leave the high street behind them and not wear mass-produced, homogenised tat. And by this, I feel threatened.
However, imagine my joy at the recent Camden Fashion Show, to see that this was not entirely the case. Camden Lock is a beautiful part of the borough, just tucked away from all the Rastas trying to sell you drugs. It is here, in an elegant cocktail bar on the waterfront, that I found the essence of submissive femininity still alive.
I could hardly control myself as one gorgeous model after another paraded down the catwalk. For one stomach- churning second, I felt my masculinity threatened once again, by a luscious, pouting male model that looked not unlike Cheese Grater editor Rene Lavanchy. Thankfully, the moment passed, he did his stuff and exited left of the catwalk. Phew.
Flashes of skin and revealing cuts were a prevalent theme although it worried me to see that Punkyfish were still creating those bottom-skimming, 80s ra-ra skirts that screamed “EASY ACCESS!” Especially when these skirts seemed to be constructed from the Transformers duvet from my bedroom – I guess it reminded me of all the times as a child, trembling beneath the blankets, listening to my parents having sex.
But anyhow, the most important thing about this show was to highlight the importance of fair and ethically traded fashion. Some of my best friends (like Robert Kilroy-Silk) wear fair and ethically traded fashion, and after tonight, I am soon to be a convert. It is notable to mention the inspired uses of colour – lots of browns and plums that reminded me so much of autumn. I thank my editor, God and my mother (who had dressed me earlier that evening) for what proved to be an eye- opening and stimulating night.