Last Sunday I had the pleasure of receiving a blogger invitation to Boohoo's open model casting. The affordable Manchester fashion brand based online, were searching for their next big star to feature in their new "Real Women" fashion campaign.
Before entering number 20 Dale Street, where the event was held, I did not really know what to expect and arrived alone with my camera and notebook. I was greeted by the friendly staff in the foyer of the spacious office building, was quickly ticked off the list and led upstairs by one of the Boohoo members. I initially thought I'd missed the buzz early on in the day, as it seemed quiet and there were no longer queues outside the building like there was first thing.
I was taken to the second floor in a lift, turned a corner and was faced with a huge line of hopefuls; girls of dissimilar heights, shapes, ages and ethnicity's. The turnout was lovely to see, tall, petite and curvy
girls all vying for the same position...to be Boohoo's next star!
The casting doors opened at the stroke of 12.00 with tonnes of girls anticipating the event queueing outside next to the red velvet rope. On entering the building, each participant was registered with a
Boohoo team member and given a personal number sticker.
Girls were guided upstairs to the wonderfully spacious casting suite filled with seats, a DJ booth, sweets, goodie bags, Boohoo's new A/W collection and various creative stations for the casting.
Rails galore!
Boohoo's new collection for A/W 11.
The finest selection of winter warmers.
On their arrival each aspiring model was invited to have her hair and make-up done by a
Boohoo beauty team member pre-shoot.
After hair and make-up it was time to join the endless queue...and one by one each participant was called to have her professional photograph taken by the amazing team on-hand.
Photos were then cropped & edited by the
Boohoo technical team, and uploaded onto Facebook.
The final part of the open casting; invited each participant into the Catwalk suite where a panel of judges including special guests were waiting on their arrival.
Edith Uba is the next girl in line hoping to impress the judges...
After strutting their stuff on the beautifully elongated white catwalk, each girl was asked a series of questions... one being, What do you think you could you bring to the
Boohoo Real Women Campaign?
The judges chatted with contestant Edith Uba (pictured on the catwalk) about her views on the brand and why she would like to star in the new Boohoo Campaign.
Ready to take note...the panel including guest judge
Misha B, listen intently to Edith's responses.
Excitingly, I managed to have a quick chat with beautiful contestant Edith Uba on her exit from the judging room.
Stunning in looks, 18 year-old Edith a Londoner, originally born in Italy, is about to venture off to Nottingham to study Property Investment and Finance. We chatted about her model aspirations and what attracted her to the Boohoo open model casting event. In response Edith stated she could bring flavour, excitement, individuality and color to the open model casting. One of the friendliest girls I chatted with that day, Edith was a fantastic contender oozing breathtaking beauty and a lovely bubbly personality.
One of the quirkiest girls I'd spotted queueing up for judging was 19 year-old Disa from South Wales, I couldn't resist having a quick chat with her. Sweet, chatty and remarkably individual, Disa hoped she could bring a unique style to the
Boohoo Real Women Campaign. Wearing a mix of clothing and accessories from high street stores such as Newlook, Disa sported a handmade headband which added to her eclectic look perfectly. She stated that her favorite role model was the glamorous Tyra Banks.
Throughout the day there were public appearances from guest judges singer Jodie Connor, rapper R.I.O and Coronation Street Stars Michelle Keegan & Ryan Thomas (pictured below).
I had the pleasure of also meeting a very special performer Miss
Misha Bryan from Manchester, who made me feel a little starstruck! Talented Misha has been shortlisted in the top 4 females appearing on this years X-Factor, not only is she my favorite, Misha has been tipped as one of the potential winners this year. Come on girl!
Before I attended I didn't really know what to expect from the casting event, I can say I had a fabulous time thanks to being personally invited by the Boohoo marketing team. I met so many lovely people, and got to know the Boohoo team and more about the brand. Generously I was given a £50 gift voucher on my arrival to use online along with some other goodies! I'll be spending that pretty soon!
Thanks Boohoo. I hope you all enjoy reading my post about the casting event, it really was a great day! I wish all of the girls the best of luck...it's gonna be a pretty hard decision xxx
