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INTERVIEW: LIVERPOOL FASHION WEEK

By Victoria Bates ⋅ March 17, 2008 ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

Nervously I scurried around the Albert Dock in a desperate attempt to find the highly acclaimed embodiment of sophistication, Circo; where I would be interviewing the Founder and Events Manager of Liverpool Fashion Week.

After an unsuccessful strut down the cobbled walkway in 5inch stilettos and ill fitting pencil skirt I finally located my destination. Deciding the windswept look did absolutely nothing for my admittedly ridiculous exertion of stylish elegance; I quickly flicked my hair into a respectable side parting and touched up my lipstick while triumphing at locating my pen and notepad in my organized chaos of a handbag.

Excited as I was, I couldn’t help feeling I was going to be bombarded with flamboyant fashion chit chat and arrogant superficiality. What I was presented with in reality couldn’t have been further than my judgmental expectations. Beckoning me over to a leather booth in the midst of the stylish interior the two men smiled and introduced themselves as Adrian Longdon (Founder) and Kay Uchegbu (Events Manager.) Although the atmosphere that hung in the air was evidently cool, I felt immediately relaxed and at ease by such a warm and genial welcome. After chatting like friends for nearly half an hour I became instantly aware that they were not pretentious fashionistas but motivated, ambitious and intelligent and had gained success through hard work and dedication, their down to earth natures and enthusiastic personalities adding respectively to their charismatic presence.

Hi Guys, really nice to meet you both. So, firstly what has been the highlight of your experiences as Founder and Events Manager of Fashion Week?

Kay: As I have grown up in Liverpool, I’ve really enjoyed interacting with Liverpool as a city, I mean interacting with Liverpool people, Liverpool fashion designers, Liverpool venues and businesses.

Adrian: I just love having sex with all the models, haha. Only joking, seriously, it’s been really rewarding because at first when we started the Fashion Week project 3 years ago, we had to approach all the businesses and media groups, etc, but now companies like Selfridges and The Guardian are contacting us and it’s just been really rewarding to see all our hard work paying off.

What has been the biggest challenge?

Adrian: Basically, having to work such long hours, I get up at 5 most mornings and don’t get in till after midnight most nights.

Kay: The putting together of the launch party at Kingdom was pretty stressful, the constant phone calls and running around.

Who is supplying the clothes for Fashion Week?

Adrian: Local Liverpool designers mostly like Lola Loves and designs by Sarah Alexandra. We wanted to celebrate all the local Liverpool designers and their talent.

So, the fashion reflects Liverpool fashion styles, rather than general British fashions?

Adrian: Yeah, Liverpool has definitely got a style of its own and we wanted to celebrate and expose that. The clothes aren’t as outrageous as the clothes you may find on a Milan catwalk because the fashions are for normal people, not just models. The themes are our way of being outrageous; we have put a lot of emphasis and work into the themes of the events, which include Sex and the City, Moulin Rouge and Oliver Twist – From Rags to Riches.

So are the models professional?

Kay: Some of them have done runway before, but most of them are just normal Liverpool girls. We wanted a reflection of reality and real beauty, we didn’t want to recreate Milan, and we wanted a unique and individual event.

Liverpool Fashion Week doesn’t seem to have that pretentious Milan air about it. Is Liverpool Fashion Week for everyone then, not just people in the fashion industry?

Adrian: Liverpool as a city isn’t pretentious and neither is Liverpool Fashion Week, yeah, it definitely is for everyone. We both come from working class families and we have worked really hard to get where we are today so we don’t want Fashion Week to get up its own arse, fashion is for everyone.

Each event has a different theme and is held in different Liverpool venues such as Newz Bar and Mosquito. Who came up with the themes and why?

Adrian: I came up with the themes to reflect the types of clothes on the catwalk at each event, for example at ‘Industrial Destruction’ the theme reflects the urban style of the clothing. The music and interior also coincide with the themes to give the events an extra edge.

Is Liverpool Fashion Week a one-off event for the Capital Of Culture?

Kay: No, we want it to be a yearly event; we are already in talks about next year’s events. We are coming up with themes already and getting in touch with businesses. We aim to make it even bigger next year and attract an even bigger crowd.

So how can we get tickets to the events and what are the price ranges?

Adrian: You can get tickets from www.ticketweb.co.uk and prices range from 5 to 15 pounds. We wanted to make the event affordable so as many people as possible could celebrate Liverpool fashion.

Thank you so much guys, I wish you every success with the shows ahead.