‘I went to an attractive style present in a church – it was heaven for useless influencers’

It’s a Saturday night time in London and a gaggle of beautiful 20-something ladies have fashioned, sipping on berry embellished gins, lime topped tequila sodas all whereas basking within the mild of their iPhone digicam flashes.

We’re not in some swanky membership within the capital – however, you’d simply be forgiven for pondering that was the case. Instead, we’re in a church teeming with influencers making a sea of slicked again buns draped within the Oh Polly ‘New In’ web page.

For a second I needed to verify I wasn’t experiencing non permanent amnesia attributable to the transportable ring lights penetrating my cornea at each second. But no, frontal lobe nonetheless in tact and really a lot so in God’s home.

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What on earth is occurring, you ask? Well, it is the Oh Polly Fashion Show christening London Fashion Week with a glitzy knees-up at St John’s Hyde Park, after all.

For one night time solely, the web style model boasting a “social-first” enterprise mannequin invited a military of influencers to share an unique sneak peak of their Spring assortment within the place of worship identified for Catholicism and extra just lately, catwalks.

If I had been to place a picture subsequent to the definition of ‘juxtaposition’ within the Oxford dictionary, it might be this. The spiritual imagery and posters for Lent Carols lined the partitions amongst a line of influencers – or content material creators – eagerly queuing to get their Instagrammable snap (or 20) beneath the clothes model’s emblem.

I’m certain Jesus did not have this in thoughts, however perhaps he might have been clearer on what to worship – although I’m certain it is not vainness or on-line style manufacturers.

No one is getting down on their palms and knees for God tonight, however Oh Polly certain has a non secular following due to their hourglass accentuating attire and profitable model offers with influencers and ex-Love Islanders galore. It’s what helped the model safe cult standing amongst the glamour pusses of at the moment.

Speaking of Love Islanders, they received Maura Higgins to promote a costume from their latest assortment. The brunette actuality star, presenter and mannequin actually is what she says on the tin – the total bundle.

And the unreleased robe “exclusively designed in-house at Oh Polly’s London atelier” adorned with glitterball-esque mirrored elaborations actually put the proof into the pudding for the above. While Maura dazzled within the strapless costume and perched herself entrance row, influencers continued to face in succession ready to seize their finest angle – it is not their first rodeo doing so.

For these not needing a photoshoot or to seize content material for his or her baying followers, the bar it was. Now Jesus famously turned 120 gallons of water into wine, although it appears like Whitley Neill Gin should do for this for this contemporary day passage.

The pop-up bar lined with purple and crimson bottles of the rhubarb and ginger and raspberry flavours of the spirit stood parallel to the photograph snapping hotspot. As I sipped on one of many fruity drinks myself, I sniggered remembering that I’m in reality in a church with influencers and actuality stars with sufficient collective followers to in all probability begin up their very own mainstream faith.

Just after 8:00pm, an hour after arrival, visitors had been shortly ushered to seats or stood both aspect of the nave masked as a runway. This took a short time to get everybody to take their cellphone cameras pointing away from themselves and in direction of the cream embellished ‘catwalk’.

The music then kicked in and the opening lengthy pinned mannequin with glowing pores and skin graced the runway, strutting her stuff as all eyes had been on another person for the primary time this night. She rocked the unreleased costume additionally worn by Maura, the place different fashions adopted with comparable variations of the apparel.

For the 10-15 minute present, a wave of telephones consumed the viewers with bobbing heads desperate to get a glimpse between units and church pillars. The assortment included puffball mini attire, custom-developed floral-appliqué types and complex hand-embellished designs that might not solely be seen on a catwalk, however in an precise upmarket bar in London on a Saturday night time.

Soon, the much-anticipated present was over and the room – possible essentially the most lovely one within the UK that night – was again to photograph taking and tequila soda slurping.

In essentially the most ironic approach doable – and for the aim of this story – I needed to whip out my blacked out glasses and sit on one of many foldable chairs as if I used to be a part of the style hoo-ha. Which triggered presumably stares of mockery, but a supply of inspiration for others.

Have I now grow to be the influencer?

It’s simple that Oh Polly have some beautiful clothes of their collections. They appear to know their viewers effectively, how traits manoeuvre on social media and easy methods to replicate them for the garments hanger.

The influencer fanfare is straightforward to get distracted by and feels inauthentic at the very best of occasions, however even stripping away the ring lights and paid posts Oh Polly have one other hit spring summer time assortment on their palms. Maybe they’ve even received God on their aspect, he may be a fan of puff-ball attire and break up hems in any case.

At simply earlier than 21:30, the lights started to exit and the hoards of visitors had been herded out to let their shiny embellished attire glisten on the street lamps and taxi mild glares. Some had been nonetheless making an attempt to sneak just a few final photos in, me too as I did not fairly handle to attain a snap earlier myself.

“No more pictures,” bellowed one of many workers members. Influencer I’m not then.

And within the phrases of essentially the most infamous fictitious style diva, Miranda Priestly, that is all.