Written by Lisa Stewart

Glasgow School of Art - Graduate Fashion Design

10 fourth year graduate students from Glasgow School of Art unveiled their new collections this week on one of the stripped out floors of the Savoy Tower, to an eclectic soundtrack complimenting the designers collections, ranging from The Flamingo's I Only Have Eyes For You to Underworld's Born Slippy.

The show opened with Jacob Pulley’s exploration of the power balance in social structures, in his collection ‘The Prisoner and his Guard’. Next up, Belfast born Rebecca Armstrong presented her designs which explore femininity in 90's grunge, by mixing two contrasting elements of women’s wear, lingerie and tailoring.
 

Poppy Camden employed grey tailoring mixed with bold neon colours and deconstructed suiting in her collection. ‘Absolutely Gentleman’ was the end of the 19th century inspired offering from French designer Léa Bonaventure, taking influence from the desire of women to gain more rights and mobility, alongside the adoption of masculine elements. High necked blouses featured alongside tailored coats, blazers and wide leg trousers.

Dunoon-born Flint James MacDonald believes that history is “an active and abiding presence in the creation of contemporary life” with an evocative collection that featured a show stopping floor length green corduroy coat, while ‘Memories of Dress’, Morag Seaton’s graduate showing, had a starting point of interviews with people about the clothes they valued most shape her collection which featured a primarily neutral colour palette of grey and navy with pops of red and yellow.

Kelly Hawkins explored the hierarchy of power in her collection, which featured a muted colour palette and a mixing of textures and fabrics.

The Terracotta Army served as inspiration for Chinese designer Fengqi Liu's ‘Armoured Warriors’ collection which featured garments that echoed the plates of leather traditionally linked and tied together in bright colours on the Terracotta Army with fringing, texture creation and bold neon colours playing against backdrops of white, grey and camel.

Penultimate designer, Clancy Dawson used her collection to protest against the sexulisation of bodies in advertising and fashion and featured gender-neutral pieces.

Finally, Kyeong Jung from South Korea, aimed to provide a built in hug for the wearers of her garments, focusing on creating a “comforting and serene personal space” for stressed Metropolitan citizens, surrounded by cold and grey buildings. Mostly neutral in tone and oversized well layered pieces featured in this closing collection of an evocative show.

View the collections at the Reid Gallery as part of the GSA 2018 Degree Show until Friday 8th June between 10am -7pm Monday-Friday, and 10am-5pm Saturday and Sunday, after their return from Graduate Fashion Weekend in London. www.gsa.ac.uk

Glasgow Caledonian University - Fashion Showcase

The Glasgow Caledonian International Fashion Business students took to the catwalk to showcase their 2018 offerings, in collaboration with Glasgow’s creative styling duo I’ll Be Your Mirror on show production and set design by Holly Hmiddouche. The trio created a winding double sided catwalk separated by pink sheer fabric with seating on both sides creating a contrast to the garments on show.

Model Team models took to the catwalk, including in demand face Connor Newall from Govan. While Stephanie Ferry, who trained at The Makeup School London, took the role of lead makeup artist for the event.

Opening the show, Level 2 students took inspiration from 19th Century clothing design adding contemporary twists, while Level 3 students were asked to explore texture, form and colour within a gender-neutral outfit.

While it was clear that many of the Level 2 students took their inspiration from the 60s and 70s, standout designs from Lisa Laidlaw with a red 70s style maxi dress and a fantastic use of leather by Ashleigh Watson, who is the Cordiners Prizewinner for Leather, in the form of an a-line skirt with matching crop top.

Many of the Level 3 students took their inspiration for an upcycled gender-neutral outfit from the punk movement, not least Afia Ramzan with her blue check trouser and jacket suit. While others used previous centuries for their influence, such as Layla Hendry with a velvet, lace and ruffle two-piece outfit.

The Level 4 graduating students had a live project for their final brief, working with Scottish designer Kestin Hare to design menswear which could be sold in Glasgow's fashion and lifestyle store, 18 Montrose. Contemporary designs were showcased, predominantly featuring jackets, jumpers and trousers designed by the students.

A grey military-esque coat with orange details, inspired by shooting attire, went down the catwalk from Chloe Robyn Case, while Jennifer Norrie showcased a grey reflective streetwear inspired hooded jacket. And a burnt orange cable knit and grey marl jumper from Susan Smillie showed off the high quality of knitwear the students are capable of.

Also on display on the night was work in association with GANT, Brora and 18 Montrose from levels 1-4 of the International Fashion Branding course, the MSc International Fashion Marketing students and the students from GCU’s high school programme Fashion Brand Retailing.

For more information on the fashion-based courses offered at Glasgow Caledonian University, visit www.gcu.ac.uk/study.

Glasgow Clyde College - Glasgow Clyde Creates

This week, over 60 fashion and textiles students from Glasgow Clyde College gathered in The Garment Factory to present their design collections to the public in three sell out catwalk shows. Models from Scotland’s renowned Colours Agency took to the catwalk, of which the high quality of production was in part due to various other Glasgow Clyde College students, including the Sound Production course. Hair was by Jason Hall and his team, and makeup by the beauty students from the college.

The exhibition and catwalk show was made up of the work of the HND Fashion Design, Fashion Technology, Fashion Textiles and BA Textiles students from the college, many of whom go on to study in institutions such as the Glasgow School of Art, Duncan of Jordanstone, Gray’s School of Art and the London College of Fashion.

The catwalk featured everything from slick tailoring and streetwear inspired designs, to silky evening wear and bridal, aptly showcasing the talent coming from the Glasgow Clyde College fashion, textiles and design department.

Standout pieces came from students such as Alicia Portillo, who showcased her designs inspired by the human body through the use of curves, lines and bends in the form of both a dress and a top, and Danielle Veldon who used the body as a canvas to portray the minimalistic garments she created as art with exaggerated sleeves, drapes and wide legs in order to reinvent silhouettes. Ingridia Danieliute, whose collection falls under urban utility and takes inspiration from the Japanese Empire’s military uniform, held a strong colour palette of white, black and royal blue.

Luna Sanchez Granell showed a stunning floor length red half sleeve evening dress with deep v and backless detail, while Julie Hamill’s lace and applique detail vintage-inspired wedding dress wouldn’t be out of place at any bridal shop, and showed a great understanding for the fit of a bridal dress on the body. Finally, Rabia Qasim showcased a stunning grey evening look, in the form of a maxi tulle skirt with intricate embroidered detail silky top.

Applications are open for all of Glasgow Clyde College’s fashion and textiles courses starting in August 2018. For more information, please visit glasgowclyde.ac.uk/courses.