Across both BA and MA courses, there’s a deliberate departure from polished image-making. Instead, what comes through is a kind of functional introspection – material-led, often tactile, and rooted in the logic of making. Some students build modular systems that can be reshaped or reconfigured. Others embrace the irregularities of handcraft, or work with low-status or discarded materials in ways that are precise rather than performative.
There’s a shared curiosity about transformation – less in the sense of dramatic “makeover” and more in how form, texture, and identity shift incrementally. A jacket becomes a register of time. A print holds the residue of movement. Fabric collapses, adapts, resists. Even when referencing historical silhouettes or archetypes, the results tend to feel provisional – offering propositions rather than fixed statements.
In a moment where fashion education often drifts toward commercial polish or concept overload, SST’s output this year feels unusually clear-headed. The work is experimental without being overblown; sensitive to context without being didactic. These are designers paying attention – not just to how things look, but how they behave.
