“Would you like bubbles in that?”. Quite possibly the best way I could ever have been asked if I would like my orange juice transformed to a Bucks Fizz!
That was two weeks ago as I was enjoying a day at London Fashion Week, as a guest of Canon UK and Ireland. Even as a long-time Nikon shooter, I was fascinated to see how Canon supports professional photographers at events like this. Indeed, whilst I get the feeling that photographers generally favour one over the other for a given genre of photography (nature, landscape, fashion, portraiture, etc.), Nikon were conspicuous by their absence.
Whilst what I know about fashion is almost infinitesimally small, I was amazed by some of what I saw in my day at Somerset House. Fashion Stylist (and Canon’s VIP Hostess) Amanda King expertly guided us through a succession of showrooms including displays from up-and-coming designers like Palmer//Harding andChristopher Raeburn with his fascinating creations of re-manufactured clothing. I also saw catwalk displays fromOsman and Amanda Wakeley – and was surprised to note that the costumes were not wacky and unpractical, as I had expected, but actually something I could expect to see in a boutique.
I have to confess though that the real fascination for me was the environment in which the photographers work. From the tiny spaces where each ‘tog marks out their place to the dedicated facilities for photo editing and uploading images, it was an amazing insight into the work of a fashion photographer. 
Canon Professional Services (CPS) were on hand to loan equipment, carry out minor repairs and generally support the photographers who, in turn, remain loyal to Canon for their equipment purchases. What I wasn’t expecting was the noise that the bank of cameras made during the catwalk shows. Not the classic noise of motordrives (not these days anyway) but an erie click, click, click which one spectator commented sounded more like insects chirping. Aside from the soundtrack to the show and the applause at the end, it was the only sound to be heard, that and the instructions barked at the models who stray away from the catwalk lights!
I had an amazing day, for which I’d like to thank Canon for their fantastic hospitality. This is Canon’s twelfth season as principal sponsor of the event, organised by the British Fashion Council to promote British designers in a global market. If you don’t think that means much – consider that the UK fashion industry supports around 1.3m jobs with a direct value to the economy of £21bn. Surprised? Yep, so was I! My pictures don’t really do the event justice but they were at least shot on a Canon camera (I reclaimed my Ixus 70 from my son, who has recently adopted it as his own). Maybe one day I’ll return with my DSLR? I can dream…
(The images in this post are © 2011 Mark Wilson, all rights reserved and are therefore excluded from the Creative Commons license used for the rest of this site.)