LCF celebrated the industry’s next generation of innovative (and employable) talent last night as the BA design graduates took to the runway with their final collections.
It was a full house at The Yard in Shoreditch yesterday for the #LCFBA14 show. Industry, press and peers turned out to see works by LCF’s latest promising crop of courses ranging from Contour and Jewellery to Print and Textiles.
Shimmer, constructed/deconstructed tailoring and trailing details such as braids, rope and fringing were prominent trends. Yet durability rather than fleeting crazes was the evening’s theme. Whether Maewa Uhlmann’s, BA (Hons) Fashion Design Technology: Womenswear, crisp utilitarian sportswear line or Charlotte Knowles’, BA (Hons) Fashion Design Technology: Womenswear, elegant warriors with armour of pins, the class of 2014 pushed the boundaries of fabric, silhouette and embellishment while demonstrating a commercial adaptability that didn’t pass unnoticed.
“It was quite different this year, there’s a reflectiveness and a thoughtfulness,” says Head of College Frances Corner. “Just take the overall palette of subdued dusty pinks, lilacs, nudes, khaki and greys. In some of our previous years there’s been quite a riot of colour. It’s interesting that perhaps the students are reflecting some of the seriousness out there and thinking quite carefully about what they’re doing.”
Tony Glenville, Creative Director for the School of Media and Communication agrees:
“I can imagine people from various houses going, ‘she would work for us, he would work for us’. We’re looking at students who are trying to understand where fashion might go, away from just basic clothes and to show how creative they can be. To be employable but still have skills that someone goes we could take that out [and use it].”
Dan Thawley, Editor-in-Chief of A Magazine Curated By, presented Sofia Ilmonen, Jinhee Moon and Mengna Ye (all BA (Hons) Fashion Design Technology: Womenswear) with the award for Best Directional Use of Colour. Their sweet ice-cream shades placed Elizabethan frills in a modern context.
The Collection of the Year Award went to Victoria Smith, BA (Hons) Fashion Design Technology: Womenswear, and Hae-Na Kim, BA (Hons) Fashion Textiles: Embroidery, for their sophisticated pieces, celebrating colour and movement akin to the elegance of Roksanda Ilincic.
While no menswear designers received an award, it’s an area Jessica Bumpus, Fashion Features Editor of Vogue and LCF alumnus, is excited about:
“The menswear was particularly strong. Ten years ago it was still gently, gently but now we’re seeing some really wonderful things. The thing I most love is coming to student shows because it re-energises you. It’s got that thirst and ambition. What’s great is that you know some of these students are going to end up being the next big thing”.
If that ambition to make a mark on the industry wasn’t clear enough, the finale walk through was taken to Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are a-Changin. It felt momentous, it felt possible, and having seen the innovatively mastered crafts on display, it is eagerly awaited.
- Read more about BA14Watch the BA14 runway live stream replay
- The BA14 takeover on the LCF Channel
- Watch the season unfold: #LCFBA14
- Visit the BA Design Exhibition
- Written by Fi Anderson, BA (Hons) Fashion Journalism
The post Fresh design talent in Shoreditch for the LCF BA14 Runway Show appeared first on LCF News.