Inside London’s first Vogue World: Thong leotards and Anna Wintour’s VIP assembly line

Dozens of A-listers descended on London’s West End for the city’s first Vogue World on Thursday night. Ellie Muir was there to witness the star-studded flash mob

It’s been pre-emptively dubbed Britain’s answer to the Met Gala, and rumour has it that Leonardo DiCaprio will be making an appearance (iStock/Getty/PA)

On the red carpet at Vogue World, the stars are out in force. Here’s Sienna Miller, wearing a show-stopping Schiaparelli two-piece framing her growing pregnancy bump. Nicola Coughlan is wearing a halo. And now I stand before Anna Wintour, who is holding out her hand. “Hello, thank you for coming,” she says, shaking mine as I move along the assembly line, almost like I’m being greeted by a monarch. I’m at London’s first ever Vogue World, which is taking place at the city’s Theatre Royal, Drury Lane to raise funds for the UK’s cash-strapped arts scene. But it is, of course, also a very good excuse for a glamorous, star-studded party.

On a normal evening, this theatre would be teeming with seven-year-old girls watching Frozen: The Musical, but tonight, Conde Nast has booted them out in the name of philanthropy, and packed it out with A-listers, from Stormzy to Brian Cox and Princess Eugenie. The build-up has been filled with anticipation: it’s been pre-emptively dubbed Britain’s answer to the Met Gala, and rumour has it that Leonardo DiCaprio will be making an appearance – but advance details were kept under tight lock and key.

The roads between Covent Garden and Holborn have been closed off, cars replaced by branded “Vogue World” vans, black fencing, and crews of runners pushing rails of designer clothing towards the stage door. Security guards with earpieces are frantically ushering tourists out of the way, while Vogue employees are pitched up next door to the theatre in FishWorks, an upmarket chippy, as they work through the night to execute the masses of PR surrounding the event – one that has been well-timed to kick off London Fashion Week.