Paris Fashion Week: Issey Miyake Street Style

I have been using the new Olympus PEN camera during London and Paris fashion week- perfect in size/ weight whilst producing all important great quality images. I wasn't focusing on street style per-se during London, more details of the catwalk, however have been partaking in a little peeping tom-esque (no real essence of peeping though as there tends to be a sea of photographers outside every major venue) whilst in Paris.

Theres something quite exhilirating about photographing individuals within a crowd slightly off guard, more often than not in a rush- you never quite know who you're going to see or what you're going to get. I do like posed street style but often find non posed images ironically more engaging; devoid of 'auto pilot poses' with an essence of realism.

I also find the style of guests interesting to observe based on the show they're attending. In London, when I attended the KTZ and Nasir Mazhar show, people were dressed with considerably more urban inspired elements (baseball caps, trainers etc) than how one would expect guests to dress to Christian Dior or Lanvin for example. At Issey Miyake there were an awful lot of the popular holographic Issey Miyake bags from a couple of seasons prior.

Anyway, please enjoy a selection of street style highlights from the show. If you've heard of street style photographer Bill Cunningham (documentary on Netflix, anyone?) you may spot him sneaking in to one of my pictures- I had no idea he was there until I was editing on my laptop!

London Fashion Week: Olympus PEN E-PL6

During London Fashion Week I was given a fantastic opportunity to try out the brand new Olympus Pen E-PL6. For editorial and commercial work I always shoot with super high spec professional models however on the occasions when I'm attending events as a guest, heading off on holiday etc and need a little more flexibility, this camera is a fantastic option; ideal for London Fashion Week.

As a photographer, I'm a little harder to please when using affordable cameras aimed to a wider audience- it's very hard as there are so many options and where there are options, countless opinions follow. You may be able to buy a relatively good 'point and shoot' for £150-200 but more often than not, their longevity isn't great and the quality (in many more ways than one) doesn't exceed that of a phone.

The Olympus Pen E-PL6 (retailing at £429) is a very well considered camera. The quality and clarity is first rate when combined with optimum settings; achieving sharp images with enhanced colour depth and detail. The camera itself is chic and customisable, with an array of accessories including lens caps, grips and straps.

Everything about the camera works as you would anticipate- there are no grey areas which drive you mad and its quick and easy to change the settings, even in a rush as I was on the catwalk at fashion week!

I'm looking forward to using the Olympus Pen at Paris Fashion Week between 24th-29th September and will keep you updated on my progress. Not only is the Pen a great camera, it will also compliment my monochrome parisian wardrobe to perfection!

Aspinal of London Lending Launch

I was delighted to attend the Aspinal of London lending launch on the 9th September, an exclusive drop in lounge for press to adorn their fashion week outfits with a bag from Aspinal's AW14 collection.

I selected the Marylebone tote, retailing at £895. This monochromatic beauty is the perfect balance of function and style, complete with USB phone charger which in my opinion, is utterly genius. I don't want to think about how many times I hunted out the elusive 3 pin grail last season, crouching on the ground whilst praying it would reach at least 20% in the next 10 minutes.

It's large enough to pop in my fashion week staples, including, but of course not limited to; invitations, a pair of black pumps, emergency blister plasters (you can never be too prepared), an apricot and almond Eat Natural bar and/or Propercorn sweet and salty for on the run sustenance and last but not least, my camera.

The lending launch ends on the 22nd September, covering the duration of all European fashion weeks; London, Milan and Paris. I'm looking forward to attending Paris Fashion Week for the first time this season, the cornucopia of all things chic- armed with my rather fitting monochrome tote. It's going to be hard to part with!