MODELS will strut their stuff tonight in the first two Oxford Fashion Week catwalk shows of the year.
Organisers have raced to make the finishing touches and say they are ready for lights, camera, action from 6pm at the Randolph Hotel Ballroom.
This week has already caused a fashionable stir, after Anna Wintour, formidable editor-in-chief of US Vogue, graced the Oxford Union with her presence for a talk on Tuesday.
Whether she would stick around for shows could not be confirmed, though if she did, organisers are certain she would be in for a treat.
Anna Wintour, editor-inchief of US Vogue magazine, arrives at the Oxford Union to give a talk
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This year’s shows involve 30 models, 37 designers and 251 different outfits.
Yesterday at sunrise a van arrived from London bearing more than 200 garments for the shows. Model fittings and rehearsals are under way.
Director Carl Anglim said the work of 11 separate designers would appear in tonight’s cosmopolitan show alone. “That show is hugely popular. It’s our edgier, younger event and it’s very creative and audacious.”
The lingerie show, from 8pm, will feature live music from violinist Charlie Parr and Texan singersongwriter Meredith Baker, both Oxford University students.
Tomorrow’s couture show will see the return of Oxford-based designer Rosie Dennington, who first showed her work in Oxford Fashion Week in 2009 aged just 17.
Since then her pieces have been modelled by actress Helena Bonham Carter and shot by Peruvian fashion photographer Mario Testino.
A final highlight will be the ‘Genesis’ concept show. It integrates fashion and technology, featuring laser-cut and 3D-printed accessories and wearable LED lights.
Curator Natascha Mehrabi, who works for Science Oxford, said: “We are trying to create an immersive experience for the audience. It will be different to what people are used to from Fashion Week.”
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