If you happened to find yourself around Oxford Circus first thing on Sunday morning, you might have witnessed a very unusual type of photoshoot... To celebrate the start of London Fashion Week and to show off our brand new collections, Bluebella teamed up with some of our very own Instagram and Facebook followers to shoot something new, exciting and, ultimately, special.
That’s right, we chose 18 of our beautiful followers with body confidence and perhaps a bit of a penchant for exhibitionism to come and take part in our stunt-turned-shoot by strutting their stuff across Oxford Circus’s busy roundabout, as though it were the most prestigious catwalk in fashion week. But whilst of course this was a great opportunity to show you all the new designs we’ve been furiously working on for the past few months, what we really wanted to do was show off the amazing women we’re lucky enough to have as fans!
We are continuously inspired by the way our Instagram followers take our pieces and run with them, showing off their individual and creative sense of style, and we wanted to bring that boldness into the public eye.
We used social media itself to cast for and find these 18 incredible women of all shapes, sizes and ages to show us off, and what ensued was the most inspiring of days. Real girls, each uniquely beautiful, and bubbling with what we like to call Bluebella attitude. Friendships were made as each of our girls pushed their boundaries and revelled in their spirited confidence. "The girls all supported each other and we embraced our diversity, our individual and collective beauty. We owned our fierceness and our confidence rocketed, both individually and together, and we all made a new set of sassy and inspiring female friends," said 26-year-old writer Deni, one of our models for the day.
Chilli-Rae, who works as a makeup artist, was the youngest to take part at just 18, and wanted to channel the empowering nature of Bluebella by participating, “I’ve loved Bluebella for a long time - it’s all about empowering women. It was a lot of fun and people’s reactions were great.” Of course it wasn’t without it’s nerve wracking times, as explained Lou, an actor from Stoke Newington and Pollie, a soon-to-be textiles student, who was encouraged by her mum to do something she originally thought would be a bit risky, or rather risque…
But it wasn’t just talented ladies from the creative and performing arts who took part; Cheyanne, a 24 year old medical PA was one of the fierce ladies making London her catwalk. “I wanted to challenge my inner naughtiness.” She told us, “I was nervous but excited.” Carolina, an English student originally from Chile agreed; “I think it is a great way to show off the beautiful different shapes of the female body.”
And show off they did, but of course a shoot this big had its fair share of complications. Organising the logistics for 18 girls without modelling experience at one of the busiest crossings in central London takes a lot of planning. Scheduling casting calls on social, fielding and responding to all applications, arranging castings in the office for all those successful and then liaising with all 18 girls all the way up to the Sunday morning took a few months of planning, not to mention having the London Police rock up to ask for a license, which was resolved by posing for a photo with the girls!
The Bluebella brand is all about modernity, strength, fashion and inclusivity, with the city of London our beating heart. We have a history of shoots demonstrating both our commitment to celebrating diversity in beauty and of celebrating the city around us, and although this may have been the boldest one yet, we’re just getting started and we dare you too! This Autumn we dare you to bare, to say no or say yes. Ask for more and never settle. Be loud, be proud and fight harder. We dare you to be strong, bold and beautiful, just like Bluebella.
Read more about the shoot and see more quotes from the models here!
