Grace Victory's Top Picks London Fashion Week

(Right.)

Too early for this.

Hi, I'm Grace Victory,

I am a fashion blogger from the UK,

and you might know me as uglyfaceofbeauty from YouTube.

And my message is pretty clear.

I'm a size 16 and I really want other girls, even boys out there,

to feel comfortable and confident with who they are.

So I'm so excited to be vlogging today

and taking you with me to London Fashion Week.

Oh, my God. It's going to be amazing.

I'm good to go behind the scenes, go on the catwalk, celeb-spot as well.

I just cannot wait.

Right, I've got to go,

but if you want to see the latest trends on the catwalk,

keep on watching and I'm going to be teaching you how to rock them

straight from the high street.

Got to go. Bye!

-Simon!

-Yeah?

Need your help now, because I've got to get stuff done

and I'm late, as always.

I need my powder, brush, my lipstick. Please.

Lipstick, powder, brush.

-So, Simon is my boyfriend.

-The one and only.

-It's not just like this random boy... in my house.

-The best boyfriend.

And he helps me with life, basically.

-And...

-Make-up.

..he's been in my videos before and, like, helped with my make-up.

And you can contour, can't you?

I'm getting there.

You missed a bit.

Go on, then.

-Just one nice...

-No, my eyebrows! Oh, my God, do not do that.

Right, bronzer... and then I need this...

-as well.

-What does this do?

-Just have some.

It sets your face in place

and it's good for, like, a refresh throughout the day.

Yeah, so, I'm ready now.

I just need to, erm,

put this on -

this is my statement coat.

Do you like it?

It's kind of like Hugh Hefner-esque type... Do you like it?

No, I love it.

You looked at it like, "You're wearing that?!"

-Reversible.

-Yeah, it's from H&M. 50 quid.

So you guys need to get out - got to get changed.

Go. Go! Bye!

So a few months ago I did the Cosmo shoot.

It was The Curve Edit for Evans.

It was just one of the best things I've ever done, I loved it.

This is me here. I look very different.

I had, like, a black straight-hair wig,

skinny jeans, and I had these heels.

I kept falling through the wood on Brighton Pier.

Which was not fun. But it was so good.

Sometimes I can't believe that's me.

It's crazy.

I guess I never knew that I'd actually get here.

I kind of had a difficult childhood and, like, my teenage years,

so to go through that and then suddenly be in magazines modelling

and strutting my stuff, it's crazy, like, the journey that I've been on.

It blows my mind every time I do, like, fun things.

Amazing!

Take a look.

So we're outside the Brewer Street car park.

And this is where the hub of Fashion Week is taking place,

and it is crazy.

There's, like, queues for everything.

There's paps and people taking photos, bloggers I think.

Just people walking by.

I'm scared!

Right, let's get in.

While the crowds hover outside,

hoping to get a ticket to one of the first shows of the weekend

by Turkish-born designer Bora Aksu,

I've been given access all areas.

Right, so I'm here.

My first show is Bora Aksu.

He's known for elegance, seductiveness,

just really beautiful pieces.

And I'm backstage and I haven't been here before,

so I actually can't quite believe it. I'm so excited.

And this is where all the models will do all the quick changing.

Yup.

-As you can see, it's quite manic at the moment.

-Yeah.

Let's go through here and I'll show you make-up.

-All the models should be here by now, but...

-Some running late!

-Some are running late.

-Lost somewhere.

I love it. Crazy.

-Crazy, it is crazy.

-It's, like, amazing.

Do you want to have a look at the collection?

Yeah, take us through.

-This is very much kind of classic Bora.

-Yeah, yeah.

It's kind of very feminine but a bit tomboyish at the same time.

Yeah, it's really nice, I love the shorts. Kind of high-waisted.

Yeah, and I haven't actually seen the collection myself!

I love the colours in that.

Yeah, especially, I think, for this season,

there's going to be quite a lot of the peaches and pinks.

Yeah, coral tones coming through.

This piece in particular I think is absolutely stunning.

The crochet, which is on the high street at the moment.

Net, sheer panels. And also, so on-trend, lace-up peep-toe shoes,

which are amazing.

Hi, nice to meet you, thank you so much. How is today going?

-How are you feeling?

-It's going fine. It started a bit of stressful

-because this is the first time using this venue.

-Yeah.

Move over to this side, because it's not a straightforward catwalk!

Concentrate.

So you're a London-based designer.

-Yeah.

-Turkish.

-Yes.

What inspired you to make this collection this year?

I usually like to do my collections

really through personal stories or memories,

and this time I looked back into my childhood memories.

And the garden, I always remember going in that in mornings,

and the colours, it was almost like, as a child I see it as...

-Yeah, sunsets and stuff.

-..magical gardens.

And that colour's actually inspired me to do the collection.

It's very summery and fresh.

I thought it was sensational.

I think Bora's signature

is a kind of folkloric craftsmanship.

And sometimes it's crochet, or embroidery,

or beadwork, lace,

but it always has a slightly folkloric feel to it.

And it's very feminine, but it's not kind of cutesy.

I mean, there were pieces there, you know,

that a woman of any age would wear.

This was just delightful.

And I love the way you started with those icy pastels

and then suddenly these firework colours.

Yellow and shocking pink and orange.

Beautiful.

That was an amazing show, I feel totally inspired.

I'm going to go and blog about it right now, so follow me.

The go-to destination for bloggers during London Fashion Week

is The Apartment.

This is where hard-working bloggers

grab something to eat and drink between shows,

get their make-up touched up,

and report on the latest looks trending from the catwalk.

"Loved the Bora Aksu show.

"All those beautiful colours."

Tweet.

The highlights for me were the bright orange

and the bright purple-pink - like a fuchsia colour -

was just amazing, especially for my skin tone.

The only problem is,

obviously this stock isn't out until, you know, next year.

And the other slight snag is that,

obviously, myself, and probably you guys,

can't afford to shop at Bora.

But I'm going to show you how to create that look

but with high-street prices.

If you'd have asked me years ago

how quickly will a show that we've just seen

get to the high street,

traditionally it's spring/summer '16,

so you would be seeing it drop in March.

But, of course, what happens now, I've just been tweeting pictures,

so somebody can see these beautiful kind of lace-embroidered dresses now

and probably, the reality is, someone like a Topshop, or a Zara,

or another high-street retailer,

will probably do something very similar way before then.

So you'll actually start to see it - I couldn't give you an exact date -

but very, very soon it will filter through.

New Look's always a good place to find stuff.

Now, that is a bit of Bora.

The detail, the kind of crochet textures.

That as well.

I mean, that's a bit more kind of flirty, I quite like that.

That is definitely not Bora.

With the high street,

they'll use the inspiration of the catwalk,

and that happens everywhere now.

The designers see that as a flattering thing.

There will be a girl who will buy that Prada suit

and there will be a girl who will buy

a similar-looking suit from the high street.

This isn't Bora, but fringe is really in this season -

that whole '70s vibe, which I absolutely love.

Fringe galore.

I told you it was on-trend.

What you see now is,

yes, you've got all this high-end fashion,

you'll see it filter down to an audience

who can then kind of interpret it in their own way.

Now, this is Bora.

You've got to pose with the bag, you know?

Can you rock the bag, Grace?

Are working it, Grace? You are. Is it worth the price?

£27.99.

Quite like that.

Fashion really has a responsibility to filter down,

because everything is so democratic now.

I mean, fashion really shouldn't be for the elite,

and actually isn't for the elite.

And, actually, I always laugh about high fashion

because it's like the older you get,

you're more likely to be able to afford it,

but a lot of the younger girls, like our readers,

it looks amazing on them,

so you need something like the high street to deliver that to them.

So I love this belt.

This kind of detail,

the flower, the colours, is very, very Bora.

So I think...

I'm going to get that.

So I'm all shopped out and I've got all my goodies,

ready to help you nail that Bora look.

# Keep going, keep going Keep going

# Get up, get up, get up Get up, get up

# Get up, get up, get up get up, get up

# Get up, get up, get up Get up, get up

# Get up, get up, get up Get up, get up

# Sit back down. #

So it's day two, I'm super-tired from yesterday, which was amazing.

But I can't complain,

because I could be back at home working in my office,

but instead I'm off to see one of my favourite designers,

a presentation by Markus Lupfer.

Markus Lupfer we absolutely love.

His knitwear is fantastic.

Despite the fact he's German, he's actually picked up on

that kind of almost quintessential English sort of kitsch.

But you can always tell the true Markus Lupfer product,

and it's very distinctive.

Yeah, it's just got that tongue-in-cheek

kind of kitschness to it,

which is on a luxury base.

You love it. And the editor loves it, yeah.

We have Markus Lupfer Day where we all wear our Markus Lupfer jumpers.

I can't have a bit of glitz and glamour without Markus,

so it's perfect.

And it's a pretty-girl vibe,

but also a little bit tomboyish as well with the flats.

Just the kind of crazy prints

and the kind of fun aspects

that he always puts out every season.

It's just always very beautiful.

It's always really intricate, like, embroidery, beading, sparkles.

And we like the sunglasses a lot.

The sunglasses are fantastic, yeah.

Markus - strong, edgy, individual designer

who is one of London's favourites.

All the fashion press love him.

He's one of the darlings.

It's one of those things that, you know, you want to go,

you want to see the show,

you want to see the presentation.

So if you haven't seen a presentation before, this is it.

Kind of a static catwalk.

The models are the art and they don't really move,

which is kind of weird but exciting.

Some bomber jackets at the back,

they're always in,

with the gold detail, floral print here.

This is a really nice floral print.

I haven't seen a floral print like that before.

I'm going to get a picture.

Love that.

Loving the sheer material here.

Plimsolls with, like, a floral print over the top, which is amazing.

We've got a lot of embroidery.

And the main colour, as far as I can see, is black.

So, for Markus, black is back.

And I'm excited, because I always wear black.

When I design, I have, like,

-this little story in my head.

-Yeah.

So, for example, this time, I was in imagining this girl,

she is in the desert,

and suddenly it starts raining

and it's like... Suddenly the flowers are coming up

and she stands in this field of flowers.

And so that whole collection

is based on this harsh and hard land on one side,

-and those pretty flowers on the other.

-It's amazing.

I liked the coat with the flowers on, the sheer coat.

-It was just... Oh, my God, amazing.

-Thank you.

So if you could describe kind of like Markus Lupfer's vibe,

because, obviously, your collection changes,

do you kind of have, like, three words that describe

what you kind of always think about when you're creating something?

-Or does it always change?

-It changes a little bit,

but there's always something which I think is important.

It's like, to feel at ease,

to feel good at it

and to make you feel special.

The other thing is chic but it's also casual.

It's that balance between the two,

and it's like you can wear it during the day,

you can wear it in the evening.

It's always a bit like two-in-one.

Transition pieces, yeah.

-Yeah. I love that.

-Yeah, you could just put it on and you're like,

-"Yes, I look amazing."

-Oh, yes.

Oh, amazing. Thank you so much for talking to me today.

-Thank you so much, thanks for coming.

-No, it's fine, love it!

That was amazing. I made a new best friend.

He was so welcoming, he was so sweet, took a selfie for Twitter.

He was, like, just like a normal person.

It was just incredible and I'm buzzing. Day made.

Markus Lupfer's a great designer.

I mean, we've worked with him in the past,

we've done a collaboration.

But I think what's so amazing about his pieces

are that they are really accessible.

Anybody can wear them.

You can kind of pair it with a pair of jeans,

especially his jumpers and his T-shirts.

So, I love Asos, Missguided and other online stores.

Pretty budget, but they have such amazing pieces.

A lot of inspired stuff from the catwalk.

So I'm going to look on Asos first

for an outfit that's kind of Markus Lupfer-inspired.

I'm going to go for, like, a sports-luxe vibe.

It's comfortable, it's very, very him, and it's just easy to get.

So these harem pants I think I'm going to get.

They've got my size. I'm going to get those.

Trousers in the bag,

I'm hitting Carnaby Street in Soho,

the original shopping mecca for all those funky fashionistas,

to see what else I can find.

So I'm bound to find a Markus Lupfer-inspired look in here.

It's Monkey, and it's my favourite high-street store.

Not many people know about Monkey, but the ones who do love it

because it's affordable and so on-trend.

So I'm going to have a look around and see what I can find.

Oh, I like bomber jackets

and a metallic skirt.

If you could style that up...

props to you, because I could not pull that off!

I like these, but they're not... I think I could do better.

What do you think? Do I look good?

Oh, look, gold - I love gold.

Oh, my God, yes.

This is very Markus Lupfer.

The print, the kind of bomber jacket,

sports-luxe vibe.

This, the kind of geometric print.

Silver.

I love that.

So I found my glasses, these are perfect for Lupfer.

In the spirit of Markus' street-style vibe,

I'm going to model his look for you

right here in Carnaby Street.

# Express yourself

# You don't ever need help

# From nobody else

# All you got to do now

# Express yourself

# Whatever you do

# Do it good... #

If there's one thing any savvy fashionista knows,

it's that you can complete an outfit with just one killer designer item,

and the designer showrooms at London Fashion Week are full of them.

That is what you call bling.

Oh, my God.

I love it. Very, like...

Big Bird.

There's a thing called fashion maths,

and basically that means, you know,

you wear a high-street outfit - your jeans, your top, your blazer...

..and then you kind of splurge

on a timeless...

kind of amazing piece.

Now, I need, like, a Markus Lupfer-style bag.

I love these.

Like, pop-art kind of slogan,

statement bags,

that cost a lot but that last forever.

So, this - this is it.

This, this, this. Oh, my God.

This is like a boarding-pass... clutch bag

and it says, "First-class...I think".

And that is me - because I can't afford first-class, and I wish I did!

That is amazing.

I absolutely love that.

Gone are the days

where people will just wear a head-to-toe catwalk look.

It's much more about mixing, you know...

a trainer with a Topshop jean with a Mulberry bag.

That's the way girls are dressing.

Hi, guys, can I talk to you about your outfits that you've worn today?

Yeah. This, I bought it from H&M. But this is also vintage trousers.

It's vintage and this is Topshop.

Nice. Yeah, and this is obviously Chanel.

The way the fashionistas dress, the way they style clothes,

the way they put outfits together,

is a really good way of showing a look

and showcasing a look

that's a lot more accessible than the designer's vision of it,

or the designer's vision on the catwalk.

This is Stella McCartney.

-Amazing.

-This is Monkey.

-OK, I love Monkey.

-Me too.

-This is charity shop.

-Yup.

This is Vivienne Westwood and these are Swedish Hasbeens.

I think it's really inspirational to see, as well,

the diversity in nails and hair and make-up,

which is really exciting.

And you only really get that in London.

If you go to New York,

everyone is very glossy and very put-together,

but in London you'll see lots of cool styles.

Could I just ask who your fashion inspiration is

and what you're wearing today?

-Erm...I'm wearing my own designs.

-OK.

-And your shoes as well?

-No. SHE LAUGHS

The blazer. The shoes aren't mine. Vivienne Westwood are the shoes.

-Nice.

-The jewellery is mine.

-You look amazing.

-Thank you.

Hi, sorry, could I just ask about your trainers?

They're from Nike,

and they are being released next week.

And they are the Paris version, inspired by macaroons.

-This is amazing, it's like a cape.

-Yeah.

-And is this, like, attached?

-What is this contraption here?

-No, this is attached to the top.

OK, that's a top. Oh, OK. I get it, I get it.

I really like your outfit, I really like this.

-Oh, thanks, H&M this is from.

-H&M?!

-Yeah, 50 quid.

-Nice meeting you.

-You too, and your eyebrows.

-Thank you.

I'm off to one of the hottest tickets in town for London Fashion Week.

It's the PPQ show, a kind of cool DJ vibe,

and I've also got my boyfriend a ticket too. Let's go.

# I'm in with the in-crowd

# I go where the in-crowd go... #

Everyone always wants a PPQ ticket

because it's such good fun.

They have a great front row,

they've always got all the It girls of the moment on their front row

so, even just for the people-watching,

it's a hot ticket.

Really looking forward to it.

Amy's one of my best mates anyway, so I absolutely adore her.

I've been wearing her clothes since before I met her.

I think they're a really cool brand.

I think Percy's a really, really cool guy.

They always come up with really inventive, different things,

and it's British as well,

so we should be proud supporters of our home industry.

They're quirky and they've got a retro feel as well,

slight '50s thing going on.

And they do surprise you,

you'll always think, "Oh, OK, I wasn't expecting to see that,"

but it works.

Sorry, come on. Quick, quick, quick!

# T'ain't no big thing

# To wait for the bell to ring

# T'ain't no big thing

# The toll of the bell

# Aggravated, spare for days

# I troll downtown the red-light place

# Jump up, bubble up What's in store?

# Love is the drug and I need to score... #

Yeah, I loved it.

It was like the most amazing show I've ever seen,

I couldn't believe it.

-Really?

-Yeah, it was literally so... The front row was amazing.

And I just loved the pieces.

I think I need to get a leather jacket that's, like, blue...

-It's just amazing.

-How much are they paying you?!

No, that was honest.

This is his first time at London Fashion Week.

Having fun?

Oh, I love it.

The sleeveless blue leather.

Well, we do a lot of cocktail dresses

and, for us, when you tailor... For a younger girl, as well,

when you put a tailored jacket on as well,

it's a bit sort of, mmm, you know?

We need to...harden it a little bit, so...

A bit edgy.

As soon as that jacket came out, we both went, "Yeah, that's the one."

It's like biker chic, it was amazing. Good for, like, younger people.

Yeah, congratulations,

it was seriously something.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

That was cray-zee.

Leather, a lot of leather, kind of '80s.

-Lots of blue.

-Electric blue. Electric blue is, like, THE colour.

Which I'm happy about, because I really like that colour on me

and I think it looks great on, like, a lot of people.

And the structured leather jacket,

a lot of, like, whimsical, kind of floaty dresses.

I think that's probably one of my favourite shows ever.

Yeah, I really liked that. I might have to take it up. New career.

There was loads of celebs there.

There was, like, everyone from Made In Chelsea,

Diana Vickers, loads of people in the front row.

Right behind them, the press was going crazy.

-Absolutely loved it.

-It was really intense but really good.

-And now I'm, like, flustered.

-Maybe need a shower now.

Yeah! It was so hot in there. It was amazing.

And I'm quite a fan of PPQ.

Lights...

camera...

action.

# It's Grace!

# It's Grace!

# Slave

# To the rhythm... #

That's a wrap.

And I'm out.

# To the rhythm. #