Britain's Next Top Model Live

Britain's Next Top Model Final contestants and Guest Presenters.
From left: Alesha(2nd), Tiffany (1st), Emma Willis, Charley Speed, Charlotte and Joy

Britain's Next Top Model Live took place across three days from 22nd-24th of October, at ExCel London, providing the ultimate experience in glamorous shopping for followers of fashion and beauty.

11am on Friday's press itinerary, Fashionstrand were invited to capture the opening of the event. Lucky VIPs also filtered in as the flashing of cameras increased. When the ribbon had been cut, we rushed off down the red carpet entrance to the bloggers bar!



A refurbished 1950s Airstream Caravan was home to all the bloggers, who were posting live from the event.

The Kiss Live Open Catwalk

The TV presenter and model, Emma Willis wore a Yumi dress whilst presenting on the Kiss Open catwalk. The public enjoyed air and make-up demonstrations from beauty bloggers Pixie Woo, and a stylist told the crowd "never buy shoes that wobble" as she demonstrated the 'flick test'.

Xfactor star, Diana Vickers, headlined the Kiss Open Catwalk on the Friday with her hit singles 'Once', 'The boy who murdered Love' and the brand new single 'My wicked Heart', all from the number one album 'Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree'. Her vocal range and stunning performance attracted a huge array of fans. She also wore an interesting structured dress, which reminded us of Alexander McQueens Spring/Summer 2010 collection.

The casting coach from Models 1 invited the public to enroll in his catwalk workshops and strutt their stuff on the Kiss Open Catwalk, Evie actually took this opportunity at the spur of the moment! The enrollment list filled up drastically after the first workshop, as the girls were really up for it regardless of their shape or size.

The coach is primarily a dancer/actor as he told us the Alexander technique, ballet and yoga can really improve posture. He was asked by Models 1 to help with the models' composure even though he usually choreographs, explaining to us one of his proudest moment was performing Shakespeare at the Globe.

The tasks for the public got increasingly difficult as the old 'book-on-the-head' challenge was incorporated. He also told us his plans to include an exercise about going from a mad rush backstage to  emerging serene and composed for the catwalk, to mimic this aspect of being a model.

Most girls think they can't walk in heels because the shoes give them excessive pain. The runway coach advises girls to wear newly bought heels around the house a fortnight or so early, or even to take the dog for a walk in them to avoid pain on a night out!

 

As part of Global Cool's 'Turn Up the Style, Turn Down the Heat' campaign, the lounge offered customers to rework a Vintage jumper for only £5 using the materials offered by company. Global Cool offers a more interesting twist to charity fashion, they toured music festivals in a refurbished route master bus recently.  

The idea of the campaign is to wrap up warm and save money on the heating by designing and reworking jumpers, and the campaign is backed by many celebrities including our favourite George Lamb!

The public customising their newly bought Vintage jumpers

'Frock me' and Radio 1Xtra presenter, Gemma Cairney, was involved in the creative workshop throughout the day. The 'I love my jumper' competition gave BNTM Live goers the chance to win £100 in Topshop vouchers, the winner being determined on a basis of votes. However, Fashionstrand, along with 15 other bloggers, have been invited to judge the runners up who will each recieve £25 in vouchers.
You can also download knitting patterns from the website, our reaction is "Please Grandma.. For Christmas?"



Models Alisa and Natalie laughed saying "Models DO eat" when we asked to take a sneaky picture of them with their lunch! 

 As you can see the hair was extravagant and sculptural on the catwalk, these models told us hair stylists used a toilet roll to keep hair up and wrapped duct tape around it. Both have been models for around 4 years so many of the shoots "jumble together". However some stand out, Natalia opened a Stereophonics gig and Alisa tells us she enjoys working with Ted Baker as they're a nice client.

Fashionstrand interviewed and took some photos of two top models representing Models 1 at the event, but unfortunately we're having technical issues with the pictures along with a few others! However, it was great to see how the models changed drastically from smiley to a striking pose. They told us being a model is great because you get to travel and experience exciting events that you wouldn't normally do as the girls are being whisked off to Sri lanka soon for a charity fashion show, which they describe as "such an opportunity". They also said that being a model does have its down-sides, as you can be placed in extreme conditions with little clothes on whilst having to maintain your focus.

The two would describe their style as minimalistic, advising any one who wants to be a model to invest in staple garments such as jeans and a plain vest top or a simple dress, as they need to be blank canvases for designers to manipulate into look to what they want.

Ryan Frost, from Models 1, answered a few questions about what the agency look for in a model. The minimum height for girls is 5'8 and boys is 5'11 ( so pretty tall!). The agency take girls from as young as 14 years, as many walk catwalks of Chanel and other top designers at as little as 15 years of age.

His advice for our readers who are considering a modelling career is to simply speak to an agency. However he warns most agencies are "scams" who require a portfolio, so visit the association of model agents to enquire to approved agencies.

Ryan Frost tells us the next big names from Models 1 will be Sophia Fisher and James Smith.

Company magazine were also offering mini print outs of your face on the a prototype of a cover. The queue was always long, but well worth the wait, as the images were high quality and the perfect souvenir.

The images were chosen by the magazine representatives and digitally altered, replicating the process of a real cover. The wait was exciting as participants didn't know what the photo would look like until the finished product.

Customers could buy all of the images for £10 by email or £50 to be burnt onto a CD, but the mini print outs were an exclusive free bee to BNTM live entrees.

We met Leena from Company magazine, who snapped Harriet for their pick of the best outfits at the event to be featured on their website.

The opening of the catwalk

The 3,000 seat auditorium hosted a series of seven 40 minute catwalk shows, curated by Doll Productions and styled by Graham Cruz.

The Catwalk illustrated the story of the infamous reality TV series, Britain's Next Top Model by six themed fashion scenes.

The competition of Britains Next top model was brought to the runway by the contestants' performances  

Up and coming British musician, Jessie J, performed exclusively at Britains Next Top model live. At only 22, she already inspired the melody of the major hit record 'Party in the USA' sung by Miley Cyrus. Her soulful powerful voice makes Jessie J one to watch, as this is her biggest UK solo performance yet.

Tiffany, the winner of Britain's Next Top Model series 6, exhibited a beautiful metallic dress on the catwalk

Overall, the day was the perfect merge of modelling, shopping and entertainment. What we loved about the event is it gave a chance for Britain's girls to experience the life of a top model and even be scouted by top companies, as Reebok, Elle Magazine, Becca Cosmetics, Tia Maria, Boutique Sport, Adee Phelan, Melissa Odabash, Wondabra and Models 1 were just some of those who were looking for fresh faces for the latest campaigns.



Love H&E xx