On a catwalk laid with a giant, collective patchwork, our graduating BA Fashion students revealed their work to the world.
In a welcome return to physical shows, each one of our graduating BA Fashion students presented a look on the catwalk. The scene was dressed with a patchwork constructed from leftover fabrics, giant sculptures of pin cushions and scissors, all finished with a huge inflatable duck.
BA Fashion Show 2021
Seli Arku-Korsi, BA Fashion: Fashion Design Womenswear, was announced as the winner of this year's L'Oréal Professionnel Young Talent Award.
The inspiration for my work comes directly from my artworks which are an expression of what I experience in life. Particularly in the past year I had faced some hardship. I had lost my mum to COVID which created a kind of fracture in my state of mind, coupled with struggling with addiction, it made it all the more difficult for me to see or think clearly. So the 3D-like mirage prints in my collection represent just that: a hazy and unclear state of mind. I am very grateful for this award. It is an encouragement, an encouragement to keep producing from the soul and not to let a day go to waste.
Seli Arku-Korsi
The joint first runners-up are Karina Bondareva, BA Fashion: Fashion Print and Dylan Etienne-Ramsay, BA Fashion: Fashion Design with Marketing. The joint second runners-up are Ellen Poppy Hill, BA Fashion: Fashion Design with Marketing and Jamie Howes, BA Fashion: Fashion Knitwear. The judges for the 2021 Award were: talent agent Camilla Lowther, visual storyteller Harris Elliott, designer and alum Matty Bovan, fashion editor Jeanie Annan-Lewin and BA Fashion Course Leader Sarah Gresty.
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Seli Arku-Korsi, BA Fashion: Fashion Design Womenswear (Photo: Miguel Martim)
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Karina Bondareva, BA Fashion: Fashion Print (Photo: Miguel Martin Diaz)
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Dylan Etienne-Ramsay, BA Fashion: Fashion Design with Marketing (Photo: Miguel Martin Diaz)
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Jamie Howes, BA Fashion: Fashion Design with Knitwear
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Ellen Poppy Hill, BA Fashion: Fashion Design with Marketing
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Seli Arku-Korsi, BA Fashion: Fashion Design Womenswear (Photo: Miguel Martim)
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BA Fashion Show 2021 (Photo: Miguel Martin Diaz)
In i-D, Mahoro Seward and Osman Ahmed wrote:
Of course, given that these are the young fashion superstars of tomorrow, it goes without saying that the work on display grappled with the most pressing issues facing fashion today. Most of the designers can tell you the myriad ways they’ve sought out solutions to fashion’s endemic waste and excess, and many of the collections took a hand-crafted approach to textiles. Themes of decolonialism, gender identity, body distortion and innovative artisanal techniques also rose to the fore, and it was truly diverse as a result.
While in Vogue, Sarah Mower summed up the show as:
A collective triumph of youth and creativity over the adversity and trauma of a year of struggle, it had all the thrill of a grand fashion reunion for the hundred students who each walked in their own looks – and for the widely-spaced audience who hadn’t seen a live fashion show in so, so long.
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Sunkung Kim, BA Fashion: Fashion Design Womenswear
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Harry Turner, BA Fashion: Fashion Design Menswear
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Yuting Zhu, BA Fashion: Fashion Print
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The 2016 catwalk show