Front Stage

The 18 March 2011 heralded the opening night of Edinburgh Charity Fashion Show 2011, which gave fashion fanatics front-row seats to this year's top trends and up-and-coming designers. This year’s fashion show focused around the theme [D]evolution, named to reflect the interests and aesthetics of the students involved. The amazing venue, Mansfield Traquair, was full to capacity with fashion enthusiasts alongside some of Edinburgh’s most stylish. Everyone was excited about what turned out to be a truly amazing event.

Some of Edinburgh’s most glamorous students graced the runway clothed in designer collections including All Saints, Pringle, Totty Rocks, Hannah Ellis, Katie Barret, Pinko and Walker Slater to name a few. Edinburgh’s Charity Fashion Show clearly takes fashion seriously and this was apparent in the calibre of designers and standard of clothing featured on the runway. A key trend to take away from this year's show was the tweed suit, making an appearance in Walker Slater’s collection. The Mac coat was also extremely popular on this year's ECFS runway, recurring throughout a number of lines with All Saints, Thomas Miller and Pringle each sporting this season's top trend.

Lady Gaga's impact on fashion was also visible in the trends of big shoulders, spikes and androgynous-inspired clothing by Is Not Dead Paris, Andrea Rubio and Bernice Miller. In-keeping with the theme of [D]evolution we saw make-up and clothes that took matters back-to-basics with earthy tones in addition to loose shapes and feathers.

ECFS chose to support Breakthrough Breast Cancer this year, a Scottish charity dedicated to detecting and treating breast cancer, and the support for such a cause was clearly reflected by the buzz in the crowd. Such events are extremely important: with one in three women receiving a cancer diagnosis and one in eight of these diagnoses being breast cancer, it's hoped that as a result of such fundraising many more women will survive the disease. The money raised at ECFS will go towards ensuring that every woman in Edinburgh knows how to detect breast cancer, and that every woman diagnosed can receive the best treatment possible.