Embrace the Stream: Live from London Fashion Week

I apologies readers for my blatant bloggers' delinquency these last 72 fashion-show-packed hours or so. Although I touched down in time to hit a few LFW shows on Friday, a 10:30 am call time for hair and makeup for the Johnny Blueeyes show Saturday morning, a lack of internet in my Notting Hill casa, assorted swarms of friends in need of vistation, fashionistas in need of "fabulousing" and Butters demanding at least a 12 hour cuddle-a-thon, the reporting has kind of fallen by the wayside. Not to mention that today saw yours truly throwing a wee temper tantrum in the midst of Somerset House whence Butters was bounced from the Todd Lynn show by security guard gourd heads so panicked and confused about why someone would ever bring a little dog tucked quietly inside a magenta Mulberry tote to a fashion show instead of a kicking, screaming, smelly baby (note: you don't want to know how many times I've seen a diaper changed or a breast whipped out for feeding time in the front rows of assorted shows, babies are the new diamonds, duh). They were so frazzled by the de-pomeranianing of the house that lurkers sans tickets managed to storm the unguarded ranks and pack the tent to capacity. So despite the fact that the Butters situation was sorted, I left with a bad taste in my mouth and not so much as a fleeting glimpse of the collection.

I'm over it.

Good thing live streaming from fashion week is all the rage these days (thanks be to Alexander McQueen for firing the digishot heard round the media world with your SS10 farewell extravaganza) so passing on a show in order to preserve one's sanity is no longer immediate cause for termination from your editor. And like its jet-prefixed namesake which helps Europe bound transatlantic flights glide home all the faster, the winds on this one look like they're about to whip up into a global whirlwind of a fashion publicity frenzy.

"Blogging? It’s so last week," writes the Telegraph's Hilary Alexander. "Right now, "live" streaming of catwalk shows is steaming! In fact, it’s getting so hot it’s raising the temperature in cyberspace and models are going to have to be called "supernovas", there’s so many of them rattling around up there above the Earth."

Whilst I feel her prediction of models on the moon is a bit of a stretch (gravity struggles enough already keep their rattling bags of bones from floating away from our own terrestrial sphere), there's no denying that "Stream" is no longer a euphemism for mother nature's monthly visits but perhaps the latest and perhaps greatest push for the final "democratization" of fashion's seemingly uncrackable Swarovski crytal palace.

Hence, while Hilary warns that live streaming could usurp the newfound cushy position of bloggers nestled in the industry's inner bosom (she writes: "Young bloggers such as BryanBoy and Tavi Gevinson should enjoy their moment in the fashion spotlight while they can, for they are about to be eclipsed by something that’s bigger than both of them – the virtual front-row seat at the instant digital fashion show"), Madame Telegraph has failed to think of the alternative: the marriage of the two. And I don't mean the uniting in holy matrimony of the aforementioned gay Asian and underage tween. Unlike this polarized bloggers v. editors rif raff of late, blogs and streams, both being products of the cyber sphere, can indeed coexist happily. It goes like this: find live stream code, copy, paste, embed, publish blog. Et voila! Who needs Benjamins when there's content to be had?

Hence, despite my slacking of late, I present to you Live From Fashion Week, live stream series from London Fashion Week A/W 2010. More than just runway shows, the stream features style commentary, celebrity guests and interviews. And maybe, just maybe, further proof that streamers and bloggers are bird of a cyber-feather, CW may just be one of said interviewees. And, as if to prove that the digital runway may soon overtake the real ones, our Peachy celebrity interviewer and her TV crew did not freak out and cry rodent at the site of Little Butters. In fact, she may have just stolen the show. And then streamed it.

Check back soon for our segment, filmed with the ever lovely Sunshine, Queen of the Universe and fellow-walker-in the House of Blueeyes show. Coming your way soooon..

Click here to read the Telegraph article in full

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