The Yorkshire Evening Press Interview

Lights, Camera, Action…….

There is more to a fashion show than walk-on, twirl and walk off as anyone will testify who has seen previous Yorkshire Evening Press events organised by producer/director Robert Blake.

His productions have all the unpredictability of a firework display - yes, there is a time for his models to show perfect profiles in the sail along hand on hip tradition of catwalk couture, as elegant as a fire fountain.

But there is also a time for the rocket and the catherine wheel-dazzle, smoke and spin as his models dance to the surge and pound of rock beats in wild and whirling bullets of light. It means that you have to get models who are not only beautiful and tremendously fit, but good enough to high kick and strut.

Robert Blake - equity name Blake Roberts was an actor appearing as an extra in TV soaps including Emmerdale and Casualty and has worked as a male model. Yorkshire trained he attended classes at the Pat Pye School of theatre dance and was with model agencies nationwide. He danced with Domino Dance and has toured the middle east with Floyd from Hot Gossip.

About the models he prefers to work with he says "I like models and dancers who can sense the drama and theatricality of the occasion and can perform while dealing with heavy choreography and direction".

"Each show is different," he says "it is the clothes that dictate the pace, shape and mood, whether a show is to be romantic or rumbustuous, led by violins or raunchy saxophones, dramatic fadeout or strobe flicker."

When deciding on the show running order and the finale he says, "naturally if there are some big names in a show then these maybe obvious for the finale, but broadly speaking the show is dictated both by the clothes and the need for a running order which will allow the models a chance to be ready but to also create the correct amount of light, dark and grey. All of this has to be balanced with the need for artistic expression when displaying the merchandise along with setting the correct pace, moods and energy.

And when you have about 25 scenes, a cast of over 25 models/dancers it takes a lot of co-ordination to ensure proper change times for the models to hit the catwalk on cue as well as delivering an inspiring and entertaining show.

For instance it would be problematic to bunch all the bridal scenes together. Wedding dresses are notoriously difficult to get in and out of particularly ones with lots of buttons. It would be logical to position them at strategic points within the show allowing the models the time to get ready for the bridal scenes and for the show to be better balanced."

Finally Blake says "it matters not where the retailers are positioned in the running order if the show has no pace or variation!"

(Interview conducted by Terry Race for the Yorkshire Evening Press)