London Fashion Week: Caring with style

Published on Sunday 21 February 2010 22:03

A spectacular gathering of A-listers and Britain's fashion elite raises a million pounds to help mothers and babies in disaster-torn Haiti

DOES the famously demanding Naomi Campbell do bad weather? Let's hope so, because 30 minutes before she's due to step out on to the catwalk, torrential rain is hammering down on the canvas roof of the British Fashion Council's tent at Somerset House for London Fashion Week.

Inside there's something of a storm brewing up too. Backstage is frantic as a gaggle of A-listers and supermodels gather in the one cramped space with make-up artists, hairdressers and stylists who're all helping to put on the ultimate fashion show.

This is Fashion For Relief, a star-studded fashion show put together by the indomitable diva Campbell to raise money for the victims of the Haiti earthquake, in particular mothers and babies.

The show, part of London Fashion Week, will raise money for the White Ribbon Alliance, whose patron, Sarah Brown, is waiting patiently backstage, impeccable in a black dress and bouncy blow dry.

Fashion For Relief was set up four years ago and has raised millions of pounds for causes including Hurricane Katrina and the Rotary Flood & Disaster Appeal.

Last year Campbell teamed up with Sarah Brown and The White Ribbon Alliance for the first time and supporters of the cause include Beyonce, Boy George, Cheryl Cole, Claudia Schiffer, P. Diddy and The Duchess of York.

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Speaking ahead of the event, Campbell said: "I am honoured to be working with Sarah Brown and the White Ribbon Alliance on this year's Fashion For Relief. I am deeply saddened by the recent tragedy in Haiti. So many have been killed and severely affected by the earthquake – women and children in particular are most vulnerable in disasters. Fashion is universal, personal and touches everyone. Our aim is to use this year's London Fashion Week catwalk to reach people and help raise crucial funds to help save the lives of women and children."

While all is relatively calm out front, as always backstage is chaos.

Under a fog of hairspray, celebs are being primped, preened and prodded. Supermodel Erin O'Connor is having her hair fluffed and re-fluffed. Pixie Geldof is gossiping with Girls Aloud's Nicola Roberts while Donna Air is – rather appropriately – air kissing model Alice Dellal. A hastily hand-written sign that hangs at the backstage entrance to the catwalk reads: "Be you, be fabulous! Have fun!"

Front of house the room is packed with people who've paid up to 650 for a seat at the event. Indeed such is the demand for tickets that getting access to Campbell's show is like getting a ticket to the Vanity Fair post-Oscars party: nigh-on impossible.

Retail tycoon Sir Philip Green takes his seat front row. Opposite him sits Bob Geldof, who's here to watch his daughter Pixie take to the runway.

A few seats along the actress Joely Richardson gossips with a friend, while Joanna Lumley sits patiently waiting for the show to kick off.

Alongside the celebs sit the cream of the British fashion press, including Dolly Jones from Vogue, Katie Grand from Love magazine and Lucy Yeomens from Harper's Bazaar.

Hundreds of fashion followers sit on either side of an 80-foot white catwalk, while a wall of photographers jostle for position at the end.

This is all that is glamorous about fashion shows, and while many of the guests are seasoned London Fashion Weekers, some are attending their first fashion show. An excited young woman in front of me whispers "do you think Kate Moss will be here?"

It's the question that's on everyone's lips. Certainly, while her name doesn't appear on the extensive list of celebrities who'll be walking, she is good friends with both Campbell and Green so many hope that she'll take her seat next to the latter as the lights go down.

Or should I say up.

Just ten minutes late (it's not unusual for a fashion show to run an hour over schedule, so this counts as "on time") our host for the evening – a ravishing Trudie Styler in a floor-sweeping gold number – introduces Sarah Brown to huge applause.

Cool, collected and every inch the stylish fashion fan, the Prime Minister's wife addresses the crowd, joking, as she stood at the top of the catwalk that "I've come as far as I'm going to go down this catwalk," before getting on to the serious business of explaining to the audience where their money will go.

"Right now in Haiti there are about 10,000 women who are pregnant and due to give birth every month," she says. "About 1,500 of those will need emergency care. Haiti's health care system has collapsed along with its hospital buildings and clinics. These women face having their babies in dangerous and unclean conditions without any of the medical care that can help save their lives when things go wrong."

The audience is silent as Mrs Brown explains how the White Ribbon Alliance plans to supply medical professionals, fuel and medical supplies to help the women of Haiti. It's a stark reminder of the real reason we're all here.

Next, as Mrs Brown takes a seat, the row of lights that run the length of the catwalk illuminate and thumping music kicks in. Two screens flank the catwalk to let attendees know which designer each celebrity is wearing. The name "Alexander McQueen" flashes up and the crowd holds their breath.

McQueen's death this month has left the champagne at London Fashion Week tasting a little flat, and many in the audience have wondered whether Campbell might choose this show to pay tribute to her late friend.

Nearly a minute passes before a statuesque Campbell emerges, strutting the length of the catwalk in a technicolour mini-dress from McQueen's spring/summer 2010 collection, his last and one of his most critically-acclaimed.

The crowd go wild as Campbell proves just why she's spent two decades at the top, with a walk that's the best in the business.

She is joined by fellow model and McQueen muse Annabelle Neilson, before, to rapturous applause, a radiant Moss appears on the catwalk.

The young woman in front of me lets out a squeal. And she's not alone.

Moss is a high-fashion goddess as she sashays down the catwalk, flicking up the hem of her skirt, running her fingers through her hair and generally working the room like the rent's due tomorrow and she's for sale.

It works the crowd into a fervour, not least because it's only the second time Moss has taken to the catwalk in the past six years.

But it's not the only highlight of the evening. More than 100 designers have donated pieces for the event, with more than 50 celebrities taking to the catwalk.

Crowd-pleasers include comedians David Walliams and James Corden who strut down the catwalk holding hands and pouting before sharing a tongue-heavy snog at the end of the catwalk. Unsurprisingly, the camera flashes are blinding. Then there's Ronnie Corbett, who wears a fedora and twirls a cane while dancing to Michael Jackson's Billie Jean with X-Factor star Alexandra Burke.

Supermodels taking part include Eva Herzigova and Erin O'Connor, musicians include Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh of Girls Aloud and sports stars include cricketer Andrew Flintoff.

One of the biggest cheers of the night is reserved for Dame Shirley Bassey, who wears (what else?) a gold sequined floor-sweeping gown. Later, when everyone returns to the catwalk for the finale, she's thrown a Fashion For Relief T-shirt (specially designed for the event by Vivienne Westwood) over the top of it.

And in keeping with the charity that the event is supporting, a number of mothers take to the catwalk with their offspring, including supermodel Yasmin Le Bon and her model daughter Amber and Campbell herself with her 57-year old mother Valerie who could easily be mistaken for her sister.

Next up is the kind of auction where bids regularly reach six figures, and lots include things that money just can't buy.

It's evidence of just how heavy Naomi Campbell's contacts book is that lots include specially-commissioned pieces by Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst as well as a one-off dress by Westwood.

One of the most dramatic moments of the evening happens when the McQueen dress worn by Moss earlier in the evening goes up for auction.

Topshop boss, and Moss's friend and business partner Green clinches it with a 100,000 bid, and Moss – now sitting front row alongside Green – breaks down in tears, overcome with emotion at the loss of her close friend.

By the time the hammer falls for the final time, the auction has raised 1 million, a figure that looks set to double when all the clothes in the show go up for auction on online fashion retail site net-a-porter.com on 15 March.

It's been a successful night, and as the crowd files out, the monsoon has stopped and the skies have cleared. Just in time for Campbell's exit.

&#149 For more information on the White Ribbon Alliance visit www.whiteribbonalliance.org