The Museum of Fashion: Being a Model in John’s Fashion Show

Helena Farthing gives an inside perspective on her experience modelling in the John’s Charity Fashion Show, from the six week’s choreography practice to the craziness of the night itself.

Now, when I first signed up to be a model, I expected to walk up and down the runway in a straight line showing off the brilliant fashions that were to be worn. What I did not expect was to have to learn intricate choreography over the course of six weeks. This choreography was created by the brilliant Aga Oledzka, the creative chair.

I feel like it’s very important to get involved in all that there is to offer at John’s, whether its sports, societies or even becoming a member of the SJCR. So, when, I got the email offering me a chance to audition to be a model I thought why not, it’s a chance to meet new people and to hopefully have a lot of fun, especially as one of my really good friends was also wanted to take part. The overall commitment was around 3-4 hours a week leading up to the show and then obviously the day of the show.

The theme was museum of fashion, which was inspired by the Met Gala. There were 6 sub-themes; Punk: Chaos to Couture, Fashion in Age of Technology, Comme des Garçons: The Art of the in-between, CAMP, About Time, and Heavenly Bodies.

We got allocated some clothes based upon these themes by Olivia Sheridan, the head of fashion, for the different walks and then had to supplement some of the outfits with our own clothes. Most of the clothes provided were sourced form charity shops, dress hire places in Durham, and designers such as Josephine Bennett, who was a graduate from London College of Fashion. We all had around 6-7 outfits and there were multiple “walks” per theme as each model didn’t participate in all of them.

Now the day of the show was crazy hectic as we were all crammed into a small bathroom with around 10 stalls for 20 models. I was the last person there as I was at a practical, and I was suddenly surrounded by madness. I was told there were no longer any cubicles available so just find a space, which sounds a lot easier than it is when there are clothes strewn all over the floor and the boys have taken up the sink spaces. They were also nearly over with rehearsals so I just figured it out and had some fun.

Then it became time for the pre-show madness, we had one hour to rush back to John’s to eat dinner, do our hair and makeup (even the boys) and be ready for the first walk. It was craziness with us all having to scramble over each other to get to the mirrors, and who knows how much glitter was in that room after the show.

It was then time for the show to start and for us to show off all of the hard work that went into making the show. We all got up there and strutted our stuff while having a lot of fun. There were very few mistakes, but they were not obvious and as the saying goes, the show must go on.

However, the main “mistake” that happened, actually happened to me. During the celebration at the end where there was 20 of us crammed onto a small walkway, I felt someone push my back/arm to go more forwards as they needed more space. However, while I was moving, I tripped on something on the floor, which turned out to be a human body, which I then proceeded to land on. Rest assured, nobody was injured, but the photos of people’s reactions do bring a chuckle.

Overall, I had a very fun time being a model and would recommend it to anyone.