Story

READY, SET: BA Fashion declares a reset

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Three models in structured, sculptural head to toe white garments

Written by
Cat Cooper Published date
11 December 2023

On 7 December 2023, BA Fashion Design and BA Fashion Communication first year students presented READY, SET, a reset of the Central Saint Martins White Show tradition.

Taking us trackside as athletes warmed up on the balconies above, BA Fashion students presented an exuberant catwalk with somersaults and sprinters in vests, closing with an equipment cart being quietly wheeled away. Faces were pressed to the glass above, phones were held high and comments flooded the stream as the ‘READY, SET’ show closed the first term at Central Saint Martins.

This collaborative project saw 166 designs produced in all white fabric by first year BA Fashion Design students, presented in a show entirely produced by fellow BA Fashion Communication students.

Alongside longtime supporter L’Oreal Professionnel, new partners Circulose and Beste came on board this year, supplying students with a fabric made entirely from textile waste from which to produce their looks.

Each of the garments in the show will be recycled and returned to a fabric state, ready to be reimagined once more by next year’s class.

READY, SET was in association with Beste, CIRCULOSE®, Toray Ultrasuede and L'Oréal Professionnel.

The fashion industry and textile industry is responsible for so many greenhouse gases and carbon emissions. Every year we have up to 180 students in first year, all creating stuff that would potentially go to landfill. So, we’ve been trying to work out how we could reduce our impact

— Sarah Gresty, BA (Hons) Fashion Design Course Leader

This project has been running for more than 20 years and through it, our students tackle broader questions about what it means to show and display clothes. READY, SET is an expression of their energy and optimism, but it is also a critique of the system at large. The films, the performances and the promotional materials they created highlight the ambition they have to change a system they will one day inherit.

— Dal Chodha, BA (Hons) Fashion Communication: Image and Promotion Pathway Leader

Design: Kelly Vo. Photo: Che Deedigan
Design: Sofiya Parades Heidemann. Photos: Jake Saint Love Axler and Ellie Hoffmann.
Design: Patrick Tuft. Photography: Jake Saint Love Axler and Ellie Hoffmann.
Design: Tobias Jeans. Photography: Jake Saint Love Axler and Ellie Hoffmann.
Design: Lingwei Cai. Photos: Jake Saint Love Axler and Ellie Hoffmann.
Design: Yasu Huang. Photography: Jake Saint Love Axler and Ellie Hoffmann.
Design: Ahmad Alwohaibi. Photo: Che Deedigan
Design: Olivia. Photo: Che Deedigan
Photo: Che Deedigan.
Design: jin liang Photo: Che Deedigan
Design: Charles Ryan Honza. Photo: Che Deedigan.