New West End Company

September 07 2009

At 10am this morning, Monday 7 September, a Pop-Up Fashion Show took place on the London Underground to launch the world’s first High Street Fashion Week, on Oxford Street. 

Central line commuters including financial analyst Alex Lloyd and recruitment consultant Stacey Wright snapped up front row seats for this fashion show, usually reserved for the likes of Kate Moss & Victoria Beckham.  The ‘People’s Catwalk’ started at Tottenham Court Road and ran to Marble Arch, marking the full mile and a half length of London’s Oxford Street which is host to the inaugural High Street Fashion Week, which launches today.    (Full itinerary on www.highstreetfashionweek.com)

Laura Ramos at New West End Company, organisers of the Show and High Street Fashion Week, commented, “It took twenty minutes to complete the central line catwalk show and passengers were genuinely over the moon to see the show, which gave a unique preview of this season’s stunning High Street fashion outfits. This is the first time ever that a fashion week has been made so accessible to the public. Fashion week shows are normally reserved for the fashion elite but by creating a pop up fashion show on a shopper heavy tube, we gave everyone the chance to grab a slice of our ‘fashion week’ action.”

Leah Hibbert model, said: one of eight models who strutted fashions from leading High Street brands including Debenhams - House of Fraser - John Lewis – Marks & Spencer – Next - River Island – Selfridges – Uniqlo – in their five inch sky scraping heels to the fully choreographed show. “The underground wasn’t the usual fashion runway I’m used to, but the atmosphere was terrific – I really think the shoppers loved every minute.  The carriages seemed full of Londoners and tourists, who will probably leave London with the impression that this sort of thing goes on everyday!”

Chief make-up artists and stylists from London College of Fashion, based on Oxford Street, were responsible for backstage styling. 

Tube traveller and front row seat attendee, Stacey Wright from Manchester, said: "I was travelling for an interview and the show took me totally by surprise, this is what's great about London - you never know what's around the corner!  I’m heading straight to the shops, those girls looked great!"

Alex Lloyd, Financial Analyst, who had travelled in to Marble Arch from Essex, said: “I didn’t quite know what to do or where to look, it was all terribly exciting.  The team at the office won’t believe what just happened to me on the tube.”

The Pop Up Show was the first of a week long calendar of fashion events for the first-ever High Street Fashion Week on Oxford Street. Welcomed by British Fashion Council and Mayor of London, Boris Johnson High Street Fashion Week is a truly accessible fashion week. 

The iconic fashion designer Paul Costelloe, who has opened London Fashion Week for the past five years, also helped launch High Street Fashion Week at John Lewis Oxford Street this morning, where he will be doing a Trunk Show later in the week, giving shoppers exclusive previews of his new season’s collections.

Paul Costelloe, said: “Having opened London Fashion Week for the last five years, it gives me great pleasure to help kick off the first High Street Fashion Week on Oxford Street. I’m looking forward to seeing the public’s reaction when we showcase the new collection at John Lewis. It is one thing having to impress the Fashion Editors, but it’s quite another to put your designs out in the public domain directly. High Street fashion really has developed and progressed so much in recent years, it’s about time it had its own big season launch.”
Retailers will be rolling out the sartorial red carpet for shoppers from London, the UK and overseas. Events include, trunk shows given by UK fashion designers, live DJ sets and a multi-store fashion exhibition. Shoppers will have an ACCESS ALL AREAS pass for High Street Fashion Week events on Oxford Street.

John Ball, LU Director of Strategy and Service Development, said: Oxford Street is one of the most famous shopping venues in the world and the best way to get there is by travelling by bus or tube.  The central line fashion show was a unique event and Transport For London was happy to be part of Oxford Street’s inaugural High Street Fashion Week.”