You will need:

• A Venue
• Models
• Designers
• Catwalk
• Music
• Make-up Artists
• Promotional Material

Fashion Shows:

• Fashion shows are a great way for designers to gain exposure, models to get experience and for events organisers to add to their CV.
• Organising a fashion show can be great fun, it is a brilliant way to meet people and get involved in the local community. It takes a person with a professional approach, excellent organisation and good social skills to pull of a successful fashion show.
• If you have never organised a fashion show read my tips below and give it a go. Enthusiasm counts for alot and you may unlock hidden talents.

Fashion People:

• Create a buzz around your fashion show by getting fashion minded people involved, advertise on Facebook, Twitter and Gumtree. Post adverts looking for models, photographers, make-up artists, designers, front of house and backstage helpers.
• Organise a fashion show recruitment meeting, where you can meet anyone interested in getting involved and swap ideas. You will need to set a firm deadline for the show and present recruits with a list of meetings, any rehersals at the earlist opportunity.
• Once you have the right people, with the right skills on board you can really start planning. Make sure everyone involved is given a role and is fully briefed on their responsibilties.

Marketing your event & Fund Raising:

• Advertise your fashion show in as many places as possible. Use online networking such as Facebook, Twitter,viral e-mails and Gumtree to advertise your event.
• Approach your local newspaper, ask them to do an article about the fashion show. Print or make posters and flyers, distribute them in colleges, community centres and nightspots. Finally do not forget good old word of mouth, the more people that are involved in the show the quickier the word spreads and the more tickets you will sell.
• Negotiate a free venue by offering a percentage of ticket sales or by guaranteeing numbers attending for money behind the bar. Offer insentives for people and businesses to get involved free of charge, by offering free advertising space in promotional material. This can be used as exchange for their time, items for the raffles, goodies bags or sponsorship deals.
• Sell tickets in advance for the show, include extras such as goodies bags and free raffles tickets. Ask individuals or businesses for sponsorship, offer different level sponsorship packages for example £20.00 sponsorship includes advert in programme, forty pound includes advert in programme and advert on posters.
• Any profit made is at your disgression, a better idea is to donate it to a local charity. People will work harder and be more generous if they know any money raised is going to a good cause.

Planning:

• Before the big night have full walk through, dress rehersal. Planning every second of the show is a must,timming is key to all running smoothly on the night. The fashion show will need to be broken down into scenes, a scene is maybe a designers collection or a break for the raffle.
• Produce a detailed line-up for the fashion show. Consider what order are the designers scenes going, which models have they been allocated and how many clothes as being shown per scene. Ask will the models have enough time to change garments, to assist breaks for the raffle and guest speaker can be slotted in between designers collections.
• Remember models, stylists and designers need to arrive early at least an hour before the show. They will need time to get organised for example getting models hair and make-up ready.
• Front of house staff will be needed to work on the door checking tickets, showing guests to seat, distributing programmes and answering any questions. You will need to nominate a stage manager to control the music and lighting, they will need a good view of the catwalk and have all equiptment neccessary.

The Big Night

• It’s show time, lights, camaras and models at the ready. Get your show rocking with up-beat music and an euthsiastic introduction from the fashion show host.
• To create a real buzz invite local journalist and photographers. Give them prime position at the end of the catwalk, camaras flashing as models pose and strut will create a real catwalk atmosphere. Add a extra dimension to your fashion show by including a charity auction and guest speakers, this will keep the audience interested between scenes and encourages audience participation.
• Why not have a X factor style panel made up of local celebrities, make it their job to judge the designers work and select a winning collection.
• In true catwalk style, end the show with designers and models on stage to receieve their appaluase from the audience. Remember to thank all involved, from the make-up artists to the ticket collectors on the door.
• The buzz on the night is a really great feeling, the more you plan in advance the more you will enjoy the show. Good luck!

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This entry was posted on Thursday, July 1st, 2010 at 6:29 pm and is filed under Fashion Articles. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.