Grayson's robes 2022: from sketchbook to stage

Gasps, cheers and whoops erupt from the audience as UAL’s Chancellor, Grayson Perry, serenely walks down the aisle of Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall; for the first of many graduation ceremonies this summer. This is the first time that the friends, family and academics of the graduating students get to see the resplendent robes that Grayson is wearing this year. A fantastic fusion of embroidery, knitting, crochet, beading, stitching, handcrafting and weaving; all culminating in a long train, which trails meters behind the Turner Prize-winning artist.

Each year a competition is held to design the robes worn by our unique and stylish Chancellor. This is an opportunity for our thousands of aspiring students to design and make a once-in-a-lifetime outfit and also win £1,000 to help bring their design to life. Students must design something to suit Grayson’s daring sensibilities, but is also practical and possible for them to bring to life.

This year’s competition was one by first year Central Saint Martins BA (Hons) Fashion Knitwear student, Yuze Li. This is the story of how he went from teddy bear designs to a real-life robe.

Returning from a 2-year hiatus due to the pandemic, this year’s competition had a record breaking response from students with nearly 60 designs being put forward. With a focus on sustainability, students from across all the Colleges submitted a wide range of fantastic and inspiring designs. It was hard for Grayson to whittle down the vast selection to just a shortlist of 5 entries.

Made up of 4 individual designers and one collective, the next challenge for these finalist students was to present their concept to Grayson. Assisted by John Lau, Dean of Academic Strategy at London College of Fashion; and Sarah Gresty, Course Leader - BA Fashion; Grayson discussed the inspiration and practical application of each of the 5 shortlisted designs.

As Grayson said, he would “happily wear any of the outfits”, all of the finalists had such strong designs and well-thought through concepts. But a winner had to be chosen and due to the technical brilliance of his design, that winner was Li.

“It is a great honour for me to be selected by the UAL team and Grayson Perry”, said Li “especially as the first ever first year student to win. At the same time I feel very happy to get this chance as an Asian designer.”

Li was inspired by his childhood drawings of superheroes and teddy bears, these images would come to life in his dreams; and now in these robes. The whole ideas behind the patterns, colours, silhouette, and craft of the robes all came from Li’s childhood ideas of what he believed he would become in the future when I was a kid. Making it a perfect inspiration for graduation.

The final robe is composed of 9 different parts, all coming together to show of the grandeur and fun of our Chancellor. Due to the intense technical elements of the design, the whole creation process had to very detailed and accurate – taking more than 300 hours! Luckily Li was guided through the process by John Lau and had the help of 23 students from Central Saint Martins and London College of Fashion. This collective effort really shows the passion of all UAL students and their dedication, working tirelessly to help Li realise his vision.

Despite being a technical challenge to create, the robes are also a signifier of a future of sustainable design. The embroidery covering the robes uses thousands of metres of sustainable threads, the design incorporates recycled yarns and beads. The flowers that emerge across the robes are all made of banana fibre that bounce back into shape; and the mesh sweater is made with double layer woven ric-rac covered in a scattering of embroidered faux pearls.

Although some of the finer details in the robes may be so small they are only revealed on close inspection, Li never compromised on the quality or level of detail.

After all the hundreds of hours of work by Li, John and the many students who assisted; the final robes were a crowning glory for the return to in-person graduation ceremonies. The robes were a wonder to all who attended and none more than the designer himself, who on seeing Grayson in the robes said:

Li has proved that he is a designer with a strong future ahead of him, as his mentor through this process John Lau said: “He is a quick learner and always willing to go the extra mile to take the design and construction of the robe to another level. Li’s future as a successful fashion designer has already begun and there is so much more brilliant designs to come.”

We look forward to seeing the work that Li will create in his next few years at UAL and beyond! If you are interested in designing Grayson’s robes for next year the call for entries will be going out in the autumn term.