Annabel Kiki walks London Fashion Week

Hengdi Wang SS26 ‘Exogensis’

Having blogged all about Birmingham Fashion Week 2024 and 2025, I thought I’d write about how I took the ‘next-step’ and got booked for London Fashion Week! And what a show it was! Hengdi Wang’s SS26 demi-couture collection ‘Exogensis.’

It all started when I was on holiday this summer, camping in the South of France. I got a request through my agency Zebedee Talent to attend a casting in London for fashion week. Unfortunately I had to decline due to being away, but the designer asked if I’d film a self tape instead. The instructions were really clear. Watch the video of the previous season’s walk (below), put on heels of at least 10cm and walk in a similar style.

Now, I was on a surf holiday, camping in a cabin, no heels, no appropriate clothing, nowhere flat to film the self tape, but there was no way I was giving up this opportunity. So I put on my converse trainers, ripped shorts and crop top, and strutted up and down my decking as slowly and as cyberneticly as I could.

Unfortunately my Grandpa, who was on holiday with us, kept going past on his electric scooter, as did groups of beach goers with surfboards and parasols, and it was literally the worst self tape I think I’ve ever tried to film. But with my brother’s help, holding back the holiday makers on the road, I managed to get something in:

It was awful, but it was in. I knew I had zero hope of getting the job, so back to the beach I went. But then the impossible happened… my agency emailed: You got the job, you’re booked for London Fashion Week! I couldn’t believe it! London Fashion Week! THE LONDON FASHION WEEK 2025!

I then had a sudden panic, what if this year’s show used a similar style of slow music? Walking super slowly as an amputee is one of the hardest things to do because the microprocessor knee on my prosthetic leg is a computer and it figures out how to move once you get into a rhythm – it can tell if you’re walking up hill, down hill, fast or slow and it behaves appropriately giving more or less resistance for the task in hand… but when you’re walking super slowly it gets confused. My friend Rebecca and I laughed about it in a podcast last year:

So when I headed to London for a fitting, one of the first questions – after all of my thanks and excitement and appreciation about being selected – was: “Is the runway music fast or slow?” – “Super slow,” was the reply. I kept my cool, if the shoes were flat I’d be fine. Designer Hengdi Wang then brings out the shoes:

Well, I’m definitely someone who likes a challenge in life, and I think my past horror has proved I am pretty good at rising to a challenge… but this was going to be something else! I left the London fittings and headed straight home. I had a plan. I’d make my own shoes of a similar shape so I could practice. Now, it turns out I am no Hengdi Wang, in fact I’m not sure my design would pass health and safety… but it worked!!!!

Excitement mounted as I attended makeup trials and met some of the other models… and remember, I’m 5ft 10, so as you can see, model Nyuon is sky high!

Annabel Kiki with designer Hengdi Wang, associate director Aivi Phong and model Nyuon

Different make up looks were trialed and it made me smile every time I looked on the design board and saw my outfit design alongside the picture of me from my camping holiday – I was never going to escape that self tape!

Then the day arrived. AND I DID IT! Guys, I walked LONDON FASHION WEEK! I walked for the absolute best designer, Hengdi Wang. I did it!

It really was one of the most intense experiences of my life… and as you know, I’ve had some pretty intense experiences! But this was magically intense, it was as if there were sparks in the air all afternoon and when it came to the show, those sparks ignited into fireworks that pulsed through our very souls. Fashion journalists have described it much better than I have, with the show gaining a lot of press. My shoes in particular got a lot of attention!

My BTS reel gives a feel of what a massive production it was. I met such incredible people like Lan Nguyen-Grealis the multi-award winning make-up artist and Johanna Cree Brown creative director for Trevor Sorbie. Total superstars working on my hair and makeup. Everyone was lovely and I was made to feel so welcome and a true member of the team.

I came away from the event (after the cool cool cool after party) knowing that this is what I want to do. I remember Coco Rocha saying to me “there’s no money in runway, you do it for the thrill of it,” and it certainly was a thrill. I loved every single element of the process.

And maybe there’s some part of me, having lost my leg and being faced with the prospect of never walking again, that wants to show the world that I can walk, and I can walk super slowly (and super fast on other runways and down mega stairs on others) and in massive heels too! I guess whenever I’m told ‘it might be too hard’ or ‘you can’t’… I choose to say: “Just watch me.”