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EML FINAL - SHOWTIME!

4 days in and our 12 EML recruits are walking, talking and dressing like models... but can they pass the ultimate test - the FASHION SHOW?

Dress rehearsal gets underway

After a leisurely Thursday breakfast at the fashion-fabulous Mayfair hotel the girls strolled round to the final show venue, the incredible One Mayfair to crack on with the main event. Rehearsals got underway immediately, with the girls taking their first steps on a real catwalk under the guidance of last year's winner, Nyasha Matonhodze. 

Nyasha shows the girls how it's done

The terribly talented Toni & Guy Art Team were once again on hand to coif the girls to perfection, with celeb makeup artists Daniel Sandler  and his team supplying the makeup. All a-flutter in their Eylure lashes and ready to rock their Warehouse looks, the spotlight moment arrived for our finalists... look out for show and winner pictures here over the weekend!

Louise gets some practice on the other side of the camera

The Girl Behind The Blog....Tala

Sitting down over afternoon tea with Tala (gorgeous little lemon tarts, in case you are interested) in her London apartment, is like sitting down with any other beautiful, talented, fashion-loving 19 year old student. Um, except when she lets slip that her mama is the face of Nina Ricci for the Middle East (cue squeaks of delight from me! I met Lina Samman briefly outside the Christian Dior show in Paris in March when I first photographed Tala), she has interned at Grazia, Tom Ford (positively swooning now), freelanced for the Dubai-based online magazine Savoir Flair, she has been featured in Harper's Bazaar Arabia earlier this year, she lives between London and Dubai, and she blogs daily at MyFashDiary no matter where she is in the world (current location: Tuscany).Oh, and she is a full-time student at London College of Fashion studying fashion promotion. And she is impossible not to like (she gets extra scooby snacks for those lemon tarts :))


So where does she get her beauty and style from? Her parents are Syrian but Tala was born in the US, and moved to Dubai when she was just a littlie. After a few more squeaks of encouragement from me, I discovered that Tala's mama, apart from being the Nina Ricci brand ambassador, is one of the most stylish women in Dubai. Which would explain Tala's London wardrobe: peppered amongst the American Apparel, Zara, Topshop, Office, Reiss, H&M, Acne purchases are pieces by Alexander Wang (handbag), YSL (trib pumps and handbag), Balenciaga (handbag and sunglasses), Fendi (handbag), Chanel (handbag), Hermes (Birkin), Mulberry (Alexa),most of which she "shares" with Lina (sort of like a timeshare scheme for handbags and accessories!)

After oohing and ahhing over Tala's jewellery, make-up and sunglasses collection (as well as the little mood wall where she keeps all her invites, thank you notes etc), we went outside to take some photographs. And despite the attentions of passing motorists (I am still recovering from the lascivious stares of one particularly creepy older gent who crawled past us in his car), Tala was a dream to shoot. I think the second photograph from the top captures Tala the best: warm, caring, down-to-earth and with an utterly infectious smile :)

Tala's denim shirt is from Topshop, hat from Sonia Rykiel, black wedge boots from Office and cocktail ring from YSL. In the photographs below her skirt is from American Apparel and her shoes are the sublime YSL pumps. I can't remember where her lace top is from- I will find out for y'all.

p.s. You can click on the collages to make them bigger.

EML FINAL - THE STYLE DAY

The week is flying by and now it's time for our 12 Elite Model Look finalists to chill out and enjoy the model lifestyle before tomorrow's big final show. The day started with a morning visit to the ultra-glam Urban Retreat at Harrods, where the girls were treated to makeup classes, skincare consultations, manicures and massages... all primped and preened and so relaxed we had to drag the dozing models off to their next appointment. Well they deserved a nap.... 

Another blast of catwalk workshop at the agency was followed by a trip to lovely style partner WAREHOUSE's flagship store in Argyll Street. The girls got the red carpet treatment as the store was closed especially for them to shop, while Warehouse's stylists helped them pick out the perfect model looks.

Just one sleep left before the big show!

Amsterdam Fashion Week....Sheer+Denim

It wasn't just models who were wearing heels in Amsterdam: I saw so many girls riding bikes wearing sky-high heels! I wonder if it will catch on in London as our new cycle hire scheme launches tomorrow morning at 6am.

Amsterdam Street Style....At the Cafe

It was my first afternoon in Amsterdam and I was sheltering from the rain in a really cute little cafe (no, not a coffeeshop*;) near my hotel (the brilliant College Hotel) when I spied this girl having an espresso with her boyfriend. As she got up to leave I asked if I could take her photograph. Unfortunately it had started to rain more heavily so in order to keep her dry (nothing worse than asking a person you have just met to stand in the rain so you can take their photograph), I kind of accidentally stood in the dedicated bike lane (well, one leg was in it anyway!). Now, if any of you have been to Amsterdam you will know this is a very, very, VERY bad idea. Almost everyone in Amsterdam rides a bike, and they ride pretty fast (I know, cos I tried to catch up with a few girls on bikes to take their photograph and failed miserably). And those bike lanes, I came to realise, aren't just for your treadly: they are for scooters, mopeds and I even saw a little motorised "car" puttering along one! So after getting yelled at by an irate woman on a scooter (quite rightly- I did a bad), I took this photo. It is a bit blurry but that was a combo of the rain, my shock at realising I was in the middle of peak-hour biking traffic, and that I had nearly ended up squished on my first afternoon in Amsterdam!

*if you are looking for places to go for fab espresso in Amsterdam, best to google espresso rather than coffee shops otherwise you will end up with a list of places to go for something rather a touch stronger than the coffee bean :) I can recommend Stumptown Coffee Roasters who are from the US but have a super cool pop-up cafe on Albert Cuypstrat, home of the oldest street market in Amsterdam. Apparently a deal was struck with the owners of the space (a creative agency) whereby the Stumptown crew would make coffee for them, in return for use of the space for 3 months. Brilliant!

EML FINAL - THE PHOTOSHOOT

After the excitement of makeovers,  Day 3 of the Samsung Diva Elite Model Look Final saw our girls get in front of the camera to show off their new looks. With everyone getting to know each other, and a team of almost 20 getting are girls ready for their first major shoot, it was an action-packed if exhausting day for our little supermodels... the full shoot will be published soon but in the meantime here's a taster of the day.

 

Photography by Rokas Darulis

Styling by Warehouse

Hair by Toni & Guy Art Team

Makeup by Daniel Sandler Team

Thanks also to Holborn Studios, Kiel deValera, Colin Smith, Tomek Jasinski and Denis Shklovsky

EML FINAL - IT'S MAKEOVER DAY!

The Samsung Diva Elite Model Look Final Week stepped up to full speed on Monday with the first finalist workshops and the only bit of the week scarier than the catwalk... hair makeovers!

Our girls started the day with breakfast at the agency followed by a workshop and seed snack with Ian Marber, the Food Doctor, and then headed on to Toni & Guy's Oxford Street Academy for their makeovers with T&G's top session team. We created a fringe, two bobs, a bleach blonde, an Audrey Hepburn brunette, and used at least a thousand foils, and completely without tears too. High five, girls!

Meeting the Food Doctor

A catwalk workshop and quick spin on our new toy the EML BUS, finished the day off nicely. Next up, the photoshoot! We hope you're ready...

Eilidh goes blonde

Here Come the Girls!

Our Samsung Diva Elite Model Look finalists are here at last! The top 12 girls to emerge from our 2010 casting tour are in town preparing for their catwalk debut at Thursday's Grand Final, and we are SO excited to finally have them all to ourselves for a week!  From the minute they arrived on Sunday the girls have been on the go, starting with fittings for their too-fabulous-for-words bespoke Warehouse dresses, choosing their skyscraper catwalk heels, and delving into goody bags including mobile phones, clothes and beauty products from our lovely sponsors Samsung Diva, Warehouse, Toni & Guy, Eylure and All for Eve.

The girls are briefed on the week's events

Leeds girl Jenni raids the goody bags

The girls are off to check into their swanky pad for the week now, and we can't wait to see what tomorrow's makeover day at Toni & Guy holds instore! Watch this space as they spend the week turning into models before our eyes...

Hannah and Grace make the critical choice of which heels to wear on the catwalk

Berlin Fashion Week....Anna

Anna-lena. How incredible is her hair? Mine, at shoulder length, gets so incredibly knotty
and tangled-heaven forbid if I grew it to this length, I would spend 3 hours a day trying to tame it!

Paris Men's Fashion Week SS 2011....Suzie

Suzie

Berlin Fashion Week...The White Dress

The dress was her mum's when she was her age. See, it pays to squirrel things away and not throw things out*!

*comment meant for the benefit of my husband who is forever telling me I need to get rid of things :) Admittedly we don't have much space at the moment but that's beside the point.um, kind of.

Paris Men's Fashion Week SS 2011....Elisa

Love Elisa's new platinum blonde hair (last time I photographed her in March it was a caramel colour).

Berlin Fashion Week

Paris Men's Fashion Week SS 2011....Frills, Curls and Freckles

And red hair! All of my favourite things rolled into one :)

Berlin Fashion Week....Skinny Cargo Pants

I think she said the cargo's were from Zara but she is saving madly for a pair from Balmain!

Paris Men's Fashion Week SS 2011....Rolled Up Trousers

Rolled sleeves, rolled shorts....and, drumroll, the rolled trouser! Trifecta :)