Share with us... Your Best & Worst Collections of Haute Couture S/S 2025
fashion.telegraph.co.ukLondon Fashion Week autumn/winter 2013: A model's view: top to toe
We trail top Storm model Ashleigh Good for a unique view of life backstage at London Fashion Week.
Being a model at the shows is easy, surely? Turn up, wear the clothes, pout a bit, get snapped - bang, done. What no one clocks is how bleeding long the whole thing takes: a girl will get primped, prodded and poked at simultaneously by hair stylists, make-up artists, manicurists and dressers for an hour and a half, and given a final polish by the designer, before that 10 minutes up-down on the catwalk. Imagine doing that for four times a day, every day, for one month at show season - putting your hair through all sorts of scrunching, tonging and blow-drying, your feet in too tight, too big, too-everything-but-uncomfortable shoes - and it's easy to see why the model we were tailing backstage for this piece, Ashleigh Good, was sometimes a little tetchy.
Ashleigh has just done 17 shows in New York including Victoria Beckham and Alexander Wang, and is a Vogue Italia covergirl waiting to happen ("That would be my dream. I've meant to meet Steven Meisel so many times to discuss it, but it hasn't happen - yet", she said happy again, after a reviving cigarette break).
The UK-born, New Zealand-residing model, 21, was spotted as she was waiting for a bus. Jacking in her job offer at an insurance firm, she long-hauled it to Paris to model for Givenchy the following week: "I would have regretted not giving modelling a go." And she doesn't regret that leap, not even after having her feet glued into a pair of shoes for a show ("I've still got the stains"). Here, we give Ashleigh's unique view of exactly what it takes to create these lovely looks you see, from top to toe.
TOPSHOP UNIQUE
"My little sister Elizabeth loves make-up. I teach her how to apply it, from all the tips that I pick up at the shows. She does a perfect base, and she's only eight! Blue is her favourite colour - she would love this eyeshadow. It's inspired by Justine Frischmann of Nineties Brit Pop band Elastica. The shoes are cool - they're about four inches, but they are really sturdy, which means they're nice to walk in."
MOSCHINO CHEAP & CHIC
"The lipstick is actually Mac's Kohl Power Eye Pencil in Feline with its Clear Lipglass on top - Mac doesn't have a black lipstick in its range, so I'm told! The other beauty look in this show is dark eyes. These shoes are a bit big for me; the last time that happened, at Proenza Schouler in New York last week, I had to be glued into them. I've still got it on my feet - it won't come off."
MULBERRY
"My hair gets pretty damaged during the shows. Sam McKnight, the hairstylist today at Mulberry, used Pantene Deep Moisture Soufflé, a leave-in conditioner, to sort it out. I like my hair here, it's very natural - Sam called it 'modern luxury'. I like it when I look like 'me'. The loafers are slightly tricky to walk in. In the past, I've tripped up twice and slid across the catwalk once."
HOUSE OF HOLLAND
"The glitter has been stuck on my lids with Vaseline. The make-up artist had to use bits of masking tape to tidy up stray flecks; a cotton bud would have left hair all over my lids. Two manicurists did my nails in 10 minutes and I used a hairdryer to dry them. They match my shoes and bag, which is pretty cool."
TODD LYNN
"I've got seven layers of mascara on - Todd Lynn wanted all the girls to have 'morning-after-the-night-before' make-up. A slick-back wet look was big this season in London - it took the Toni & Guy team four rounds of mousse and blow-dries to get it like this. My hair used to be waist-length, but my agent told me to cut it. I miss it, but I get more work with short hair. These shoes are by Christian Louboutin. I could wear them all day."
fashion.telegraph.co.uk
These shoes are a bit big for me; the last time that happened, at Proenza Schouler in New York last week, I had to be glued into them. I've still got it on my feet - it won't come off."
God knows I loved this girl first time I set eyes on her. Best intentions I swear. Then the opinion leaders came, then the haircut to fit the name. Then the taste of the season.
Great, but I think most people miss the point of her beauty, her age doesnt match it yet, she needs some time to grow into these sensational classic features and grow the maturity to back it all up. Again, luv huh but she isnt supposed to be in some of these shows, really. Versace is one of them I'm afraid.