Not to gloat or anything, but we like to think we’re working to bring down any misnomers around fashion people and food (or supposed lack thereof). We mean, isn’t there something seriously endearing about a girl who can get down, elbow-deep in chicken wings whilst wearing head-to-toe demi-couture? We think so. First, there was Leaf Greener, the impossibly cool editor with a serious appetite for late night chicken wings. But midnight munchies aside, nothing quite tops the habits of model Malaika Firth, who, during our recent shoot at London’s Cafe Royal Hotel, lead us (along with her hair and makeup team) in diving headfirst into a spread of club sandwiches, French fries and, yes, chocolate cake for dessert. See what we mean?
When we weren’t busy stuffing our faces, we were styling up the hotel’s seriously expansive and exquisite suites while the Kenyan-born, London-based model walked us through trunk after trunk of all-Burberry-everything she’d toted along with her to the hotel. You can probably sympathize with how the whole modelling thing really lends itself well to a nomadic lifestyle, right? After catching up over breakfast first (yes, that was before the whole carb-loading craze that ensued later on in the day), we chatted everything from her family back in Kenya to her minor Rihanna obsession (she’s a not-so-closet megafan). And during touch-ups between portraits and outfit changes (she obviously required coordinating eyeshadow for each look, because, duh), we watched as Firth whipped out her sketchbook and pencils to sketch in between shots. Girl can draw! If she wasn’t so effing lovely, we might have had to hate her.
And while Firth was game for pretty much everything and anything, from crawling into one of the hotel’s gorgeous, ultra-minimalist bathtubs (in a one-shoulder, lavender lace get-up, no less) to carousing down the hall; the real magic was made as we skipped over to the Burberry’s flagship on Regent Street. Let us set the scene: Malaika in a seafoam, bead-embellished trench, one of this season’s need-it-now fold-over petal clutches tucked under the crook of her elbow just so, with cherry red double-decker buses whizzing by. All together now: London calling!
