Current MA Fashion Photography student Nirma Madhoo-Chipps has created two beautiful fashion films for Wonderland magazine, depicting the behind the scenes action from both Paul Smith and Margaret Howell’s SS15 London Fashion Week shows.
LCF News caught up with Nirma to find out about her experience, how she got involved and her visions and inspirations for each film..
LCF News: How did you get involved with LFW and Wonderland and how did you win these opportunities?
NM: I am currently enrolled for the MA Fashion Photography at LCF finishing December 2014.Wonderland contacted the media cluster of courses at LCF and there was a call for this opportunity to film for the magazine during LFW. I applied since I have some experience with events filming and am currently experimenting with the medium of the fashion film through my course.
LCF News: What was it like working behind the scenes at Paul Smith and at Margaret Howell?
NM: It is a very exciting experience being at the heart of one of the most prestigious fashion events in the world! It is also very interesting to witness how fashion professionals work so smoothly and seamlessly to orchestrate this big machine that is LFW.
LCF News: What was your vision for each film? What techniques and ideas have you used?
NM: The filming was basic DSLR and as any videographer, I tried to capture the interesting moments and highlights of each event. Behind-the-Scene films can be really boring but that is only because what happens there is narrated in an uninteresting way. For me it therefore became important to understand what each collection was about and how this aligned with the brand’s image. Margaret Howell showed at Rambert and projected an understated elegance throughout, so the film’s choice of soundtrack and editing reflect that. Paul Smith’s, exudes so much energy that this was tangible not just in his collection but also in his choice of staging his show at Central St Martin’s. So I decided to capitalise on the current trend for Hyperlapse filming of Fashion Week shows on Instagram in order to portray that.
LCF News: What inspires you about what you do?
NM: I am always trying to look at things differently and in my personal work I am inspired when I feel I have been able to communicate this alternative beauty or way of being I seek to capture.
LCF News: What’s next? Any exciting plans?
NM: I got very good feedback from the magazine and the brands featured so that was encouraging as I hope to expand into film making for fashion brands as a practitioner eventually. But as an interdisciplinary thinker, my current Masters project which looks at the notion of ‘Future Bodies’ is hugely collaborative and will feature some of my peers’ work from LCF as well as artists from different countries, so I hope this will be a space to watch!
LCF News: How has your course helped you develop as a fashion photographer and filmmaker and how do you think it helped you take on London Fashion Week?
NM: It is the experience clocked in through the year that has helped take on LFW. I came to LCF with very little image making skills but with a strong background in theory. The MA Fashion Photography course offers very intense practical training in the first term. This is complemented by key projects and lectures, all designed by my course leader Paul Bevan to trigger and develop critical thinking. I realized pretty early that independent learning is very important so the onus is essentially on each student to develop and take forward their skills. In my case, I am constantly honing my skills with the infrastructure and opportunities afforded by both LCF and being at the edge of fashion – in London.