London Runway was on hand to witness the live catwalk auditions to select the face (or feet!) of the upcoming Des O’Connors shoe collection. With insights from our Face of London Runway 2021 Womenswear winner, Kirsty Spence…
On Saturday 11th September, a large group of hopeful models filed into the Holiday Inn in Kensington. They were a diverse bunch, all from different shapes and sizes and walks of life – and all of them were hoping for the chance to become the new ambassador for Des O’Connor’s shoes.
With a prize worth £10,000 on the line, everyone was ready to put their best foot forward. And with our favourite model coach, Maxine Griffiths, at the helm, they all had an amazing shot! After a day of practice, the models walked out on the runway in front of a live audience, competing in three rounds to get to the top prize.
The first round saw all the models stepping out in all-black outfits, bringing us to a neutral comparison of each of their talents. From there, they were given their own choice of their favourite outfit to wear with their own stunning, colourful shoes. Finally, the top entrants returned in new looks to answer some questions from the judges and get the chance to be crowned as the winners.
Little did they know, there were actually more prizes to be won! The judges actually named winners in five categories as well as the overall winner.
They were:
Miss Impact – Maria Castiblanco
Miss Achieve – Ewelina Salata
Miss Courage – Hera Kruja
Miss Influence – Kinga Orlicz
Miss Energy – Lina Rahban
DOC Winner 2021 – Melissa Luke
Melissa will go home with five pairs of Des O’Connors shoes and will also model for the brand in the future.
And she wasn’t the only winner on the day, either – with attendees all being entered into a raffle to win shoes and one on one motivational sessions with Des himself.
“The models were amazing,” Kirsty told us after watching the show from the front row. “It was really professional, with a full-on catwalk. It was really vibrant, really upbeat. There was sass, there was attitude! I loved the diversity!”
Jealous? Well, you might have missed out on this year, but that doesn’t mean you’ve missed every opportunity. Head to desoconnorsmodels.com to get the lowdown on the next opportunity – not to be missed if you’re an aspiring model, a shoe lover, or want to find empowerment for yourself as a woman!
Take a peek over the next few pages to see the winners and runners up, as well as a highlight gallery of the most exciting shoes that the models wore on the day! What will the Des O’Connors shoe collection look like? Stay tuned for when it is launched in March to find out!
