Edinburgh’s best dressed, a church and a charity fashion show.
In case you weren’t in attendance, here is everything that you missed at the Edinburgh Charity Fashion Show.
This year’s theme, Synaesthesia, was initially pitched by this year’s Chair, Ana, whilst on her year abroad in Paris. The engagement of the senses and their interconnectedness to the human experience translated into the fashion world of textiles, layers and imagination. The lineup of Smell, Sight, Sound, Taste and Touch. Along with the additional sixth sense, The Imagined.
The thinking behind the show and its theme was uniquely human. How do we feel? For ECFS, they see it universally.
“We all feel.” This year brings together our nature, craft and uniqueness. “It makes us all the same.”
Upon entry to the show, electronic music played as the room began to fill. The DJ, tucked away next to the runway, provided the atmosphere as guests piled into the pews. Pews, of course, as the show was hosted at Ps & Gs Church. As your eyes travelled upwards, stained glass windows surrounded the upper level of seating with a lit-up crucifix hanging over the runway.
What was everyone wearing off the runway? The best individual style I’ve seen in a long while. The theme was carried out through layers of fabric, crocheted dresses, and personal accessories – some very nice hats.
It wouldn’t be a fashion event without some feature of current trends. Polka dots spotted around, butter yellow as the base colour of many dresses and overall, lots of glamour, glitter and some spring pastels.
This year’s charity, Capability Scotland, has over 1,000 service users and provides education and care to disabled individuals across the country.
The relationship between ECFS and Capability Scotland was highlighted throughout the evening, most importantly, in the introductory speeches. ECFS shared that the choice of Capability Scotland as the partner charity came about after it had volunteered itself. The partnership made perfect sense. The themes of community, building relationships and finding a sense of belonging were paramount in the pairing.
Inclusion and creativity were at the heart of ECFS this year, and this was shared with Capability Scotland. Charity users got involved with the creative spirit through designing costumes, artistic ventures, and even putting on a Capability Scotland fashion show. This bond built between ECFS and Capability Scotland is clear to see and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Despite the importance of money and fundraising for an event like this, the other benefits were “worth so much more”.
After hearing from representees from both ECFS and Capability Scotland, the show began.
Each sense took the runway one at a time and had an accompanying editorial, which was released in the lead-up to the show. Music poured outward from backstage and into the room, whispering around the audience as it set the tone for the looks to come. Visually, the editorial videos played on a large screen, above the models, and under the crucifix. A mixture of music video and artsy film, the journey of the clothes and their purposes.
The connection between the models as they crossed over on the runway acted as an energy transfer. There was a sensuality to it. Moving in unison, acting like magnets towards each other. Almost as if they passed through each other.
Between each sense, the music drifted and transformed to beckon in the next experience and to ease the audience through each phase of the show. The transitional music, selected for each sense purposefully, was not only to accompany the garments but also to engage with the audience’s own senses.
Leather draped over the body like meat. There was a ‘lived-in’ sense to the garments. Satin fresh from running through a field. An ombré from light creamy pink down to a darkened brown hem. A big brown bomber jacket was my personal favourite. Another jacket with a large collar and fringe reminiscent of a horse’s mane. Texture was a big player throughout each sense.
There was an Alice in Wonderland element to Sight. The creation behind it all came down to strings and puppeteering. “Beyond a fashion vision.” It was theatrical. This theme of behind the scenes fed back to a central one of politics, capitalism and power. Who is pulling the strings? What is it we don’t see? Both the editorial and the runway provoked thought towards this and delivered it beautifully.
The editorial for Sound was shot as a club. A focus on trance music and the idea of “becoming one with rhythm.” A crowd coming together in connection and cohesion. As they often do, all roads led back to Charli xcx. Gathering that ‘brat-summer’ energy of partying and connecting. Models featured as both DJs and dancers, a love story on the dance floor.
The hardest to create, unsurprisingly, was The Imagined. The seed of planning began with the word ‘chaos’. The location of the editorial shoot lent itself generously to the sense, Greyfriars Church. The combining ideas of a dream and a nightmare is captured in the editorial, which features a bed under a stained glass window. To witness this transferred onto the runway, in a very similar setting, came across as thoughtful and well-crafted.
It was a night to be remembered and speaks to the future that fashion has in Scotland. Highlighting young Scottish designers, as well as others from around the globe, it was a wonderful display of talent from all those involved.
In the lead-up to, during and in the aftermath of ECFS, charity partner Capability Scotland was kept at the forefront. Both sides of the partnership stated that the relationship will last long after the fashion show itself.
