On 29th of May, BA Fashion graduates of Central Saint Martins have presented their final collections on the catwalk of a brand new King’s Cross 1Granary campus. The catwalk opposite a rough brick wall is a start for great careers in modern fashion industry and a temporary end of sleepless nights in the studios. High-tech fabrics, reinvented street wear, cleverly constructed shapes, sparkles and clarity of white. We loved it!
Central Saint Martins new 1Granary building at King’s Cross is an impressive architectural construction; solid and spacious as a temple, built with dark bricks and polished glass, it gives an impression of a modern urban beauty and provides perfect space to house and exhibit new fashion talents.
CMS students had a chance to see the BA graduate fashion show (at 15.oo pm) before the press and specially invited guests arrived for the second show run (at 19.oo pm), which took place in a spacious hall, flooded with a bright day light. All the seats were taken and several dozens of students were also watching the show through the wide library windows high above.
All together we saw 41 collections by graduates who studied on the Womenswear, Menswear, Fashion Print, Fashion Knit and Fashion Design with Marketing pathways. Young designers performed magic; showing unbelievable shapes, textures and fabric manipulations, volumes and structure. Also, forget black! It was all about white and unexpected combinations of textures and colours. Deconstruction of tradition and history. Reinvention of high streets’ tomorrow. Trend setting. Raw creativity. CMS style.
We love them all! But we chose nine students who impressed us with their fantastic designs, concept, innovative techniques, beautifully made pieces, unexpected ideas and striking vision, aimed straight into the future.
Erin Hawkes, accompanied by Missy Elliot’s Pass that Dutch soundtrack, has showed all some fun; catholic nuns inspired collection, where she used ivory crispy silk for skirts and curiously floppy head pieces. The hip-hop and sportswear styles were visible influences in the collection’s silhouette, which were transformed beautifully. Dark denims, thick wool with large check patterns, luxurious duchess silks and sportswear cottons were the fabrics used. Erin has impressed us with her skill of working with volume and shape, making the over sized garments look elegant and fun.
Luke Stevens has turned fashion inside out to reveal our scruffy secrets. Fake nudity of beige fabric, ugly white underwear, huge labels with washing instructions. His collection is cleverly constructed, well balanced and it graced the catwalk amazingly styled.
Tigran Avetisyan‘s collection had “too cool for school” rebellious vibe. Jackets covered with thick layer of black paint, imitating school chalk boards. Bold and a bit grotesque expressive tailoring. Simple, yet genius.
Drew Henry has paired bright orange and yellow pony skin with plain white to create striking contrast. Strong shapes, layers of folded, as if paper, white fabric and pearl-like beads. Breathtaking.
C.J. Yao‘s collection had very architectural shapes, very sophisticated. She used shades of grey, wood and ropes. Transformed Asian traditions and elegant tribal look. Impressive work, extremely brave and out there.
Lucas Leclere‘s collection was full of stunning pieces with amazing textures and thought through trims. Reworked; one texture merging into another, ripped lace, shiny metallic tweed, plastic heavily painted with oil paints as a painting, printed silks and rich jacquard were put together in a beautiful and theatrical way. The models walked sharp to the music of Mozart.
Maia Bergman used an innovative technology to turn simple fabrics into a sparkling miracle! So much of kind glitter and gentle colour. It was hard to believe that small and sparkly beads are attached to the fabric with no magic, but human hands. The simple cut and minimalistic silhouettes looked modern. Her collection, as it progressed, has told the story of a school girl becoming a sexy woman. Maia lovingly has named each look; one of her dresses is called Donatella Versace.
Serena Gili’s pieces were close to sacred objects of art or religion. Inspired by the uniforms of nuns, Serena has created one single silhouette, but the richness and variation of the textures, techniques, patterns and materials used is absolutely gorgeous. Plastic skirts, shaped as bells or a modern vision of the 18th century court skirts, which were especially molded by a ship building company in France, and stunning knitted tops, beautifully put together with delicate yarns, golden metallic pieces and bright salad green plastic beads, looked so serene as the opera music filled the space. Balance, precision, splendor.
Natalija Mencej made a strong statement. Her beautiful, knitted and glittering collection was modeled by gorgeous guys with attitudes with gangster pugs under their arms, while Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre’s “Smoke weed everyday” beat did the beat. Over sized pieces was Natalija’s way of expressing her fascination by street wear and hip hop culture and it’s definition of luxury. Made in candy colors and sparkling from head to toe. Swag, right?
Images via Catwalking.com, collages by 1Granary
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