Getting Ready With Abby Roberts For Richard Quinn’s Spring 2022 Show at LFW

On Tuesday, Sept. 21, Richard Quinn debuted his Spring 2022 collection on the final day of London Fashion Week. As his first live runway show in almost two years, Quinn stuck to his extravagant roots but with a softer twist, featuring fun florals, fluffy ballgowns, pleated jumpsuits, and twinkling ensembles. Among the show’s coveted front row seats shined TikTok’s biggest beauty influencer Abby Roberts, amassing nearly 17 million followers on the app alone. Over the years, the 20-year-old beauty star has become a familiar face to the fashion world, first rising to fame through her bold beauty looks and viral special-effects makeup videos, and has since made her way to glossy magazine covers and now, sitting front and center at fashion week.

Styled by Steven Huang, Roberts served us “Queen of England” vibes in a dazzling floral embroidered gown and a matching headpiece dressed from Richard Quinn, and pairing it with platform studded boots from Lamota. She then spiced up the look with a latex suit underneath, a leather whip, and a spiked choker adorned with a dangling bejeweled heart. Her makeup also matched her head-turning ensemble, giving us the ultimate cat-eye effect with a bold black and emerald eye look and jewels lined on the outer corners.

“Richard Quinn’s show was amazing. I loved all of the little hooded looks and the pointed shoulders, and I also thought the structure was incredible, as well,” Roberts tells NYLON about the London designer’s latest collection. “As for moments, I loved seeing Bimini and Tayce. They looked absolutely incredible walking in the show. It was amazing to see them doing so well and, hopefully, it will be me next year!”

Ahead, Abby Roberts shares an exclusive photo diary for NYLON from Richard Quinn’s Spring 2022 show. Read on to find out about her London Fashion Week experience, how she finds inspiration for her makeup looks, and see her take us through her day of getting ready.

You have a full London Fashion Week schedule. Is it your first time attending?

It’s my first time attending and doing it so intensely. Last year, all I did was the Moncler Genius event in Milan, which was just the one fashion show. The year before, I did do London Fashion Week but I bought tickets to it, so we only got to see a tiny bit of it.

How has your experience been so far this season?

I’ve probably been to about 10 or 15 shows, with around three outfit changes every day, and I had to get changed in the car on the way to events. It has been very intense but, hopefully, the looks were worth it because I loved them so much myself.

What was the inspiration and creative process behind your outfit for the Richard Quinn show?

So for the actual outfit, I actually attended the premiere of the Richard Quinn [Fall 2021] collection a little while back, which was a fashion film they made for the collection featuring amazing people like Bimini and Tayce [from RuPaul's Drag Race UK]. The whole film had all sorts of amazing looks being showcased throughout it, like these latex catsuits with literal cat ears and they also had these beautiful headbands and beaded dresses. When I went to see the film, and I told Richard how much I loved it, he said they would love to dress me for the show, which I was so incredibly grateful for because it is literally my favorite thing I have ever worn.

And what was it like getting ready?

Actually getting ready for the show was a bit hectic because we left my outfit somewhere across town and had to rush to get it. Then, it took five people to get all of the latex and pieces on me, so we were running 20 minutes late. I was being all baby-powdered up and trying to get into the latex, which was so difficult. I had my hair done in this amazing long ponytail. We didn’t even have a hairstylist until the day of — we had a rush to try and find the only hairstylist that was available on fashion week — but my hairstylist Rosie managed to do it and it came out incredible, and I couldn’t have imagined better hair for the outfit.

Can you tell us more about your makeup look?

I actually had quite a long time to do it, which was unusual for the rest of fashion week as I had been kind of rushing to do it between shows, so I really spent my time designing the look to match the outfit. I did a beautiful black and green look and I had all these pearls glued to the side of my eye, which I think matched the outfit perfectly since they had these tiny little pearl details on the dress. I was so happy with how it came out. I felt so snatched!

How do you find inspiration and figure out what to create, especially during a busy time like fashion week?

I find fashion week quite inspiring because each outfit allows me to embody a different side of myself, so I always try and do a look to match whatever vibe. I think it comes quite naturally when I see the outfit because I can take inspiration from the colors and the designs, like I did for the Richard Quinn one. I think it’s all about picking out something that you really like and exaggerating that with the makeup and hair, as well.