On Monday this week, I was the production assistant and managing dresser of the Pritch London catwalk show, the first catwalk for the company. Pritch is a leather-wear company and I do have, as any of those who have seen me out before will know, a little penchant for leather. This recent collection was called Divine Being, which according to the show description, brought ‘the power of ancient Greek mythology to their clients through striking silhouettes, unique material and extraordinary techniques’. I’m not sure about all of that to be honest, and I didn’t’ see it all that much in the line, but ignoring the theme somewhat, the line was a clean and incredibly stylish collection and I loved it.
Photos haven’t yet been properly released when I write this so check the Pritch London website soon to see the collection. I’ll also have a few shots in my portfolio when I manage to grab a few, and maybe have a few backstage specials in their too. But here are a couple of pictures I took during the run through to give you a bit of a tease –
As you can see, they weren’t playing. Strong, fierce leather looks, whether it be all red, all black or my personal favourite in this show, all yellow…
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2PsVRnpL0q/
I had the pleasure of working with the artistic director and founder of the company Arina Pritch over the day, and she was great and kept things going no matter the unpredictable challenges of the event. But for me, the standout person of the event was Federica Braghieri, the designer of this line. She came up with these fierce designs, but most of all, she was just the loveliest woman I’d ever worked with. Without an ounce of diva in her, she was adaptable, helpful and constantly present throughout the whole show. She helped with everything, even dressing, and managed to keep her cool (mostly) over the day.
There were certain challenges of course. There was a choreography designed with the producer, Dani Wall, for the start of the show which took a bit longer to pick up than expected (take from that what you will)… And then when it came to the show, we forgot to put the candles out that were completely integral to the choreography. The were also some speedy quick changes (I’m talking less than a minute) which would be fine but have any of you tried to slip off leather and slip in on quickly? It’s not exactly an easy to take off, easy to put on, material, and so there were certainly a few panicked moments backstage.
The saddest thing was that the show wildly lacked diversity. There was one East Asian model, but other than that, the whole of the lineup was white. Now the brand is based in Eastern Europe and that is clearly their target audience, so when discussing the lack of diversity with them, that is the reason they gave for such a white lineup. It was quite expected, seeing as the whole team backstage was also white. If there’s no diversity behind the camera, there is certainly not going to be much diversity in front of the camera. Unexpected but, as ever, saddening.
It was also set in a church which admittedly may be slightly blasphemous, and also presented some lighting challenges. But we had a beautiful candle display that really brought the place to life. Also the beautiful architecture of St George’s church in Bloomsbury really worked beautiful with the supposed mythological theme of the clothing.
I also have to shout out Dani who in a hilarious turn of events decided to bring Krispy Kreme donuts backstage. Now I love a Krispy Kreme, but if you ever get the opportunity, do present models, or even generally people within the industry, with a donut to eat backstage. It is just absolutely hilarious. These model’s faces dropped into shock, as if they were being presented with a human child to eat. And what a shock, not a single model or designer took a donut. It brought some welcomed humorous relief to the more tense moments of the show.
What a show and I look forward to seeing what Pritch London are going to come out with next!!
Shivaike Shah 