LCF MA 2025: Fashion as dialogue

Graduate collections are often seen as personal explorations of identity, but this year’s cohort has decided to look outward, using fashion to redefine relationships not just between materials and the body, but between history and the present, craft and innovation, the self and community. While Dong Hyun Oh deconstructs rigid school and military uniforms to challenge Korea’s hyper-masculine norms, Cece Che visualises the weight of unspoken words, using layered constructions to express the emotional push and pull of human connection. Wenqi Dan captures fleeting, unconscious interactions, such as the accidental brush of hands, through fabric panels that move fluidly with the wearer, and Rachel Yuyang Wang explores the tension between seduction and restraint, intertwining nautical knots with themes of desire and discipline.

While these collections are supposed to mark the beginning of their careers, many of the graduate designers are already building platforms beyond the runway. Yingying Guo has launched a brand dedicated to sustaining Chinese craftsmanship, while Yanlin Wu is hoping to find a role in London’s independent fashion scene. Others, like Dong Hyun Oh and Wenqi Dan, are using fashion to explore personal and cultural narratives. Despite the challenges that come with being a young graduate in an industry facing great instability, this year’s class remains focused on creating work that reflects their values and aspirations. While the path ahead may be difficult, LCF’s class of 2025 are committed to navigating it.

Dong Hyun Oh

‘–. .- -.–’ is not the most obvious name for a collection, but Dong Hyun Oh’s graduate work isn’t what you’d expect. Meaning ‘gay’ in Morse code, five looks presented a dive into the oppression and invisibility of young gay men in Korea. “It explores the deep-rooted hypermasculinity, effeminophobia, and societal pressures that force individuals to conform or suppress their true identities.” To symbolise defiance, Oh deconstructed school and military uniforms. “Structured wool suiting is juxtaposed with sheer and fluid fabrics,” says Oh. The organic nature of human sexuality contrasts the rigidity of social expectations. A muted, neutral colour palette is disrupted by red accents, which Oh says symbolises individuality breaking through the socially accepted front. Central to the collection is the feeling of never being the “favourite child” – a painful reality for many queer individuals in Korea who grow up feeling they will never align with society’s ideals. Drawing from personal experience, queer subcultures, and underground zines, peeks of the naked body become acts of resistance and self-expression. 

Cece Che

Cece Che’s graduate collection represents the emotional weight of difficult conversations through a visual and tactile medium. “Jersey and organza visualise emotional pressure, reflecting the fluidity of emotions in tense moments,” Che explains their choice in textiles. In contrast, rigid materials like leather and wood represent communicative barriers. This soft-structured interplay translates into silhouettes that feel both restrictive and freeing.  Bringing together fashion and installation art, the collection uses space and structure to create tension, soft fabrics are draped unnaturally over barely hidden everyday objects.  “It explores the struggle to express one’s feelings in those moments, using fashion as a medium to visualise the invisible pull and inner conflict that people experience,” Che explains.

Haodong Chang

Inspired by the relationship between complementary objects, Haodong Chang’s ‘Broken Form’ examines the transformation that occurs when fragmentation leads to reconstruction. Drawing from traditional Japanese cups and saucers, the collection explores the tension of fragility – are broken forms lost or transformed? Material choices attempt to answer the question. “I use patent leather to express the cold and hard texture of porcelain and brass staples to decorate the seams, interpreting the Kintsugi technique of repairing porcelain,” the designer tells me. Colour plays a crucial role in this storytelling. “I used 13 different colours, with the inside leather pieces all white,” a detail that imitates the inside of a teacup. In Chang’s collection, which they say is “semi-handmade”, craftsmanship binds seamlessly with laser precision.

Yingying Guo

For their graduate collection, Yingying Guo found a muse in the Yi people of the Daliangshan Mountains. It wasn’t just the landscape that inspired the young designer; it was the craftsmanship of the people who inhabit it. Entitled ‘Folding Mountains, Warming Breezes’, the clothes attempt to embody the warmth, movement, and light of the landscape through textiles. “With 300 days of sunlight a year, the highland air is crisp, the breezes are weightless, and the orange-tinted sunlight filters through layers of mist and pine forests,” explains Guo. This collection bridges heritage and modernity, preserving Yi artisanship while reinterpreting it through collaboration  with a 15th-generation silversmith family to produce Yi silver work and handwoven Yi wool transformed into contemporary silhouettes by Guo. Material choices reflect the natural landscape through pleated Irish linens. Guo merges Tang dynasty tailoring with Western detailing to ensure traditional techniques remain relevant in modern fashion, something that they hope will keep the tradition alive. “I am launching my brand to create a future for artisans, ensuring Chinese craftsmanship thrives in contemporary wardrobes, not just museums.”

Wenqi Dan

Wenqi Dan’s ‘Kissing Planes’ explores fleeting, unforgettable moments of accidental touch, “when people brush shoulders as they walk, their hair blows in the wind, or when people sitting at the same table accidentally touch feet.” These subtle interactions, occurring before intimacy forms, are particularly impactful. “I use the meeting of two planes to show the feeling of accidental touch between people, many of the garments are made by layering,” Dan explains. The intention the young designer speaks of is most visible in the shoulders of their garments, where connected panels shift with the wearer through either cut outs or folded panels. Inspired by awkward moments that make us blush, Dan’s palette reflects how the body reacts to these unexpected moments, with soft pinks, the colour of blusher, making up the majority of the collection.

Miao Jiang

Miao Jiang’s graduate collection, titled ‘Spontaneous Naturalness’, transmutes her ceramics work into fashion, an approach rooted in Taoist philosophy. “I respect the natural rectangular shape of the fabric, allowing it to drape and shape itself around the body with minimal cutting,” Jiang explains. “I merged the kimono’s fluid construction with the precision of tailored trousers, celebrating the materials while fitting seamlessly into contemporary wardrobes.” The designer uses raw silk, wool, cotton, leather, clay, and wood for their organic textures, rendered in an earthy colour palette that highlights the authenticity of the materials, while techniques like woodwork, leather hand-stitching, embroidery, and macramé bring out their beauty.

Rachel Yuyang Wang

Rachel Yuyang Wang’s ‘A Lover in Marine Uniform’ finds an unlikely muse in Tadzio – the enigmatic youth from Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice. “The collection explores the hidden currents of desire and restraint in nautical archetypes,” the designer explains, blending sailor knots with themes of bondage, seduction, and masochism. Using navy blue, baby blue, and white, the collection evokes both sensuality and detachment, portraying a distant, elegant youth who is beautiful yet reserved. Wang’s design process is inspired by ‘The Art of Knots: A Sailor’s Handbook’, and attempts to capture the tension between freedom and restraint before a knot tightens. The concept led her pattern-cutting, through which she has reshaped collars, elongated panels and knotted details to create both movement and controlled entanglement.

Yanlin Wu

‘Beyond the Gaze’ is Yanlin Wu’s response to a cultural shift in perspectives on sexuality and gender. Growing up in a conservative Chinese community and moving to London to study, Wu confronts the male gaze and challenges traditional views on eroticism. The collection subverts societal norms around sex and sensuality, using fashion to reshape ingrained narratives. Contrast isn’t just a conceptual guideline, but a material one. Wu uses UK-sourced materials like oilskin, wool, laminated horsehair, and cowhide, contrasting raw textures with structured shoulders and popped collars. Mundane objects are incorporated to explore function and form, such as a shower head which adds piping to a knitted dress. His use of these elements asks: is the object still a functional one or has its purpose changed?

Jiatao Zhu

In a world where identity is constantly being reshaped, Jiatao Zhu’s collection delves into the idea of the ‘Looking-Glass Self’, exploring how our sense of self is an ever-evolving mosaic. “The project aims to explore a deeper awareness of self-identity,” Zhu explains. Through deconstructed patterns and printing techniques, the garments are meant to fool the eye, with soft gradients expanding geometric shapes on their wearer’s body. Primarily using wool and silk wadding, Zhu enhances the fabric with digital prints, with each panel hand-stitched together, ensuring a refined and intricate construction. Looking ahead, the designer plans to return to China to gain experience working with established brands before launching their eponymous label in Shanghai.

Wei Shao

Inspired in part by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s concept of the ‘Body Without Organs’, Wei Shao’s collection challenges fixed identities and embraces the fluidity of the body and self. “My collection encourages the exploration of a self that is free from boundaries, continuously transforming and adapting.” Shao’s approach is intellectual. Drawing from post-structuralism, posthumanism, and avant-garde art, the designs reject rigid structures, promoting movement and freedom over tradition. It’s not just their designs that push for experimentation, so do their techniques. “I coated a tunnel with green pigment and allowed a model to walk through it, creating a dynamic interaction between the body and environment.” The designs feature irregular shapes, draping, and incomplete forms, reflecting the body’s fluidity and emotional flow.

Holly Shih

Holly Shih’s graduate collection, ‘Threads of Time’, is a poetic reflection on Taiwanese identity and resilience. Taiwan’s complex history of colonial influences is investigated through the medium of fashion design – iron window grilles characteristic of the country’s architecture are represented in the interplay of light and shadow in contrasting hues: shocking neons and light pastels are defied by dark neutrals. Plywood, a material used widely in Taiwanese architecture, is reshaped using wood-bending techniques, transforming rigid structures into fluid, sculptural forms. “As the wood follows the body’s curves, it interacts with light and shadow, symbolising the fleeting yet profound nature of memory,” Shih explains. Materials like stretch jersey and mouldable wool create a balance between structure and fluidity, echoing Taiwan’s architectural adaptability. Shih aims to expand her brand, collaborating with artisans and specialists to integrate Taiwanese craftsmanship into contemporary womenswear while preserving and redefining the country’s cultural heritage on the world stage.

Yisheng Chen

Inspired by a fascination with the interiors visible through windows in London, Yisheng Chen’s ‘Voyeur’ explores the psychological and ethical boundaries of voyeurism. Specifically, “it documents men’s lives as seen through windows at different times,” the designer explains, inviting the viewer to witness private lives. Prints that appear on the back and sides of structured jackets are hand-drawn by Chen and capture scenes from throughout the day, representing men’s lives and stories.

Haru Kim

‘POW!’ is a collection inspired by the vibrant graffiti culture of east London, particularly around LCF’s East Bank Campus. “I still vividly remember my first days walking to university, passing through Hackney Wick and being surrounded by walls covered in bold, expressive graffiti,” Kim explains their fascination. The experience deepened Kim’s understanding of graffiti as more than just visual art but as a tool for self-expression. Collaborating with local graffiti artists, Kim developed a fashion language system, merging garment construction with the grammatical structures of English to express messages about environmental issues. Sustainability was central to the collection, with recycled fabrics and eco-friendly printing techniques used to reduce waste. To bring graffiti into 3D form, Kim incorporated padded letters and sculptural details, making fashion a literal tool for communication.