"Talk with the London"

Travelled to Hangzhou for the Spring 2012 GMXY show last Thursday. The bus ride to the fitting was about 2 1/2 hours long. Twilight was playing on a screen at the front so the trip went by quickly. There were 20 models in total, around 15 of them being Chinese  and at least 5 11" I was by far the shortest of them all.

We arrived at around 4pm and went straight to the fitting. They put us in show order and numbered us off (I was 6th). There were 90 outfits in total so the first 10 girls had 5 changes, we were photographed in each our outfits and 5 hours later left for the hotel. The place we were staying was in a secluded peaceful area surrounded by trees. It was a resort style hotel so my roommate Julia from Russia and myself had to walk a fair way from the main building to our room where 2 comfy beds in a quaint apartment were awaiting us. 

The next morning we woke early to make the Chinese style buffet breakfast in time. The show itself was in the same vicinity as the hotel so it was a short walk from breakfast to the venue, GMXY signs labelled "Talk with the London" leading the way. Walking into the auditorium I see dozens of Chinese men running around working on different parts of the union jack shaped stage, and the skyline style backdrop. It was then that I knew it was going to be a fun show.

Straight into rehearsals we're given 2 choreographed walks for the different collections. The first 6 which I was lucky enough to be in opened and closed the show. Once we had gone through what each of us was required to do we then played the waiting game.
All the models spread out amongst the venue and either had a nap, skyped their friends or went for a smoko until we were summoned for a not so appetizing lunch.

Once we had eaten (or picked at in my case) we were ushered into hair and makeup. The rest of the afternoon went relatively quickly I had a book to keep me entertained and chatted  with one of the other models about her travels around the globe. Before I knew it people were starting to arrive and the 7:30pm start time was getting closer. 

The show itself took 50 minutes but to me it felt like 5. The time spent on the catwalk is sort of an adrenaline infused blur, as soon as were backstage and out of the audiences view it's all shoes flying off and unbuttoning of pants as we run back to our dressers in preparation for our next look. Im glad there were 20 models in-between me and my next outfit there were definitely a few moments where my dresser had tangled clothes and didn't have things ready. But all in all the show went smoothly and was a lot of fun. Although fashion shows don't pay as well as catalogues they are definitely my favourite. Walking down that catwalk with hundreds of eyes on you, all you can see and hear are cameras flashing and the beat of the music. The feeling is indescribable.
 

If the glove fits..

A lot has happened this past week and a half. I checked out Shanghai's largest water park - Dino Park with James from my agency. Entry was 120RMB which equates to about 18AUD. I felt like we were the only white people there when thousands of eyes were watching us as we explored the facilities. There were a few slides, a lazy river a man made beach with a massive wave pool that acted as the sea. Was a fun day but the lines were huge and there were far too many people there so I think that will be our only visit to Dino Park.  

Last week I was supposed to have a TVC in another city, this was the one I had a 3 hour rehearsal for. They also required me to do a fitting which included hair and makeup and a 5 hour photo shoot. My agency told me 2 days before I was due to leave that they had cancelled the TVC and will just pay 2500RMB to each model. It was quite disappointing as the money from that shoot would have put my balance in the positive.  

I had a photo shoot for a glove company on Sunday. Their angle was that they can be used on IPhones and IPads so you don't need to take your gloves off in the winter to use the touch screen function. It was a pretty easy shoot, it consisted of me pretending to use an iPhone or iPad whilst wearing the gloves. They had reference images that I had to copy to the tee. Some shots were with another model - Jackson who is also from Melbourne, which made the job a bit more enjoyable. It's always good to have someone in your shoes that you can have a laugh with when the client asks you to do funny poses.