Chance to be in the virtual ‘FROW’ as models turn living rooms into catwalks

Chloe James Lifestyle, a popular fashion, gift and homeware boutique in the centre of St Albans has not let the coronavirus stop it throwing its hugely popular bi-annual fashion show.

A glamourous catwalk event had been planned for Saturday 2 May in the city’s 11th century St Albans Cathedral – which has the longest nave in Europe – to celebrate the boutique’s 10th birthday this year, Donna Nichol, the store’s owner, was determined that the show would go on. So she has mobilised her usual models, styled them with garments from her new collection, and given them instructions to create catwalks in their homes and send the results to her.

Donna Nichol of Chloe James Lifestyle

Donna Nichol will be posting the show in its entirety this week sometime and is urging the fashionistas of St Albans to grab a glass of Prosecco and enjoy a bit of fashion from their front rooms. The store had already announced that 10% of all its sales are being donated to the NHS.

Donna said: “We had planned a huge event at the Cathedral as a way of saying thank you to our loyal customers as our fashion shows held at local restaurants are usually sold out within the hour of tickets going on sale – so we wanted to be able to accommodate everyone.

We have rescheduled this Cathedral Catwalk event to October, but in the meantime, I wanted to put on a summer fashion show as usual, so I enlisted the help of my models and am excited to be able to give people just a mini-fashion fix right now. We’ll be posting the video on our social media this week, so grab your glass of bubbly and sunglasses and be on the virtual FROW!”

Mandy McNeil, co-chair of the St Albans BID (Business Improvement District), which is also the St Albans DMO (Destination Management Office) says: “This is fantastic, and shows how inventive and resourceful our independent retailers are in St Albans. The BID marketing team have been shouting out locally and nationally that St Albans Independent businesses have not disappeared, they’ve just gone online.

We created a virtual Destination St Albans, which is engaging, inspiring, and unique, which mirrors the vibrancy of our physical shops, cafes, restaurants, pubs, and cultural attractions.

“I would encourage people to check out the enjoystalbans.com website for all the details about how you can still enjoy the city from your homes: ordering in food, drink, fashion and homeware; watching music and entertainment.”