Written by Kim Hullait
Previously Birmingham located clothes show as re branded to the British Style Collective this year, where over 170 fashion labels and thousands of shopaholics flocked to Liverpool on a pleasantly sunny July weekend.
Ticket holders rubbed shoulders with celebrity guests such as Kimberly Walsh and Jamie Lang, as well as successful bloggers, most notably Sarah Ashcroft who boasts an Instagram following of over 730,000.
We experienced first hand the celebration of the British Fashion Collective in this thriving UK city, across some of Liverpool’s most stunning locations. Our fashion adventure began in the ACC, which became home to every brand imaginable for the weekend. We quickly became like two little girls in a sweet shop, ogling at what seemed like an endless ocean of clothes, make-up and jewellery waiting to be picked up and taken home.
As well as the brands on show, we were spoilt with style talks from fashion experts from big labels such as River Island. In addition to this, we were treated to guest celebrity interviews from Made in Chelsea’s Jamie Lang and 2016 Love Island contestant Alex Bowen who has his own clothing line releasing next year.
River Island explain how the ‘Style Studio’ can benefit women and men
Alex Bowen speaks about his plans for the future on the Expert Stage
Jamie Laing talks about his brand ‘Candy Kittens’ on the Expert Stage
Following our visit to the ACC, we were both equally as impressed with each other for restraining our inner shopaholic nature and not going overboard like many were, who had already seemed to have accumulated masses of bags by 11am, we headed over to the press office to be escorted along with other bloggers and members of the media to the most coveted event of the day, the fashion show!
We settled in our seats and were treated to an exhilarating hour long performance by models and dancers who owned the stage and show cased some incredible dance sequences and some of the hottest trends including; all white, pastels and vintage circus.
Directly after witnessing the British Fashion Collective’s show-stopping performance, we boarded the fashion bus to take us to the next stop on our fashion adventure, St. Georges Hall.
The stunning Georgian architecture provided an unreal backdrop to the designer catwalks and showrooms, where we were free to browse up and coming trends in each room we entered. We also attended two talks during our time here, the first with a celebrity panel of guests including Kimberly Walsh, Caryn Franklin and Jo Elvin, focusing on women and how to dress for success, something which resonated with both of us.
What we took away most from this talk is the importance of comfort and having comfortable attire will mean that we will feel at our most confident and ready to take on the work place. Our final talk by Jo Elvin who has been the editor and chief of Vogue for the last 15 years talked to us about the insides of working for the largest selling fashion magazine in the UK.
Glamour ediitor Jo Elvin gives a talk on how to get into the magazine
Our day concluded with a scenic bus ride back to the ACC where we commenced on our journey home after a thrilling fashion experience in Liverpool and one we would both very much like to be part of again. We gained an insight of the latest trends and also gained advice on how to make the most of the clothes we already have sitting at the back of our wardrobes.
For anyone wanting inspiration and an overall exciting day out in Liverpool, the British Fashion Collective is definitely something to consider for next year.
