I was lucky enough to go to the Boden S/S '13 press day today and it was such a sunny experience that I wanted to share it with you by writing two posts about it. Today's post is all about setting the scene - both in terms of how it looked and also in terms of what actually goes on at a press day (just in case anyone is interested).
If, which was quite easy to do, I ignored the Christmas tree and ice-skating rink outside of Somerset House, it was quite possible to imagine that it was a summer's day and that I was in a beautiful Victorian House somewhere in the English countryside. It was lovely to walk into such a light and airy room and be greeted by such vibrant colours. I have spent many days in the shops recently and they all seem a little flat colourwise - so it was refreshing change.
It takes about five months to plan the press days and it's possible to see just how much work goes into them with the props, imagery, film reels, flowers, furniture - even the door stops had to be painted in the right colours.
Before I went to a press day I didn't really know what to expect - I think that I probably had visions of something like a press interview where everyone was seated, taking notes, and there were people talking at the front about the collection, perhaps using models and so on but in a very corporate kind of way.
For the Boden press day, there was a separate room for each collection of women/men, children's and Johnnie B - with rails around the edge of the room exhibiting each "story". Sarah from Boden took me around each of the stories, explaining the inspiration behind each one, together with the key pieces from it. All the pieces could be looked at, touched and photographed so it was very much a "hands on" experience.
This lovely picture of Johnnie B himself adorned the wall above the fireplace in the treatment room. He's one brave man - that's all I can say.
These shots below were taken in the children's room. This first one is of the baby collection which contained lots of vintage muted tones, with nostalgic prints and crochet trim.
Frankly everything in this room was so cute, from the clothes, to the shoes, to the images on the wall...
...to the images on the furniture
...and the names on the stools. Fortunately none of the stools had any of our children's names on them, otherwise Boden may have found themselves one short.
Hopefully that gives a flavour of what goes on at these things, or certainly at the Boden press day. Oh, and I mustn't forget to mention the juice and breakfast canapes (v. tasty) or the presence of certain celebs and fashionistas! Thanks to all of the girls from Boden for being so friendly and helpful.
Tomorrow it's the turn of the ladies' collections and the pieces that I spied from them!
