Fashion in Motion: First-year Fashion Media students explore storytelling through film

The Fashion Moving Image Production unit offered students across Fashion Media the chance to collaborate on a unique creative challenge: producing short moving image works that merge storytelling, style, and visual innovation.

Led by Senior Lecturer, David Cumming, the unit brought together students from:

• BA (Hons) Fashion Styling and Production
• BA (Hons) Fashion Photography
• BA (Hons) Hair and Make-up for Fashion
• BA (Hons) Fashion Imaging and Illustration

The outcome is a series of collaborative short films that reflect both the contemporary relevance of moving image in fashion and the diverse creative voices within the programme.

“For this Fashion Moving Image Production unit, the whole Fashion Media year 1 cohort have risen to the challenge of working collaboratively in small groups on a shared vision. This experience provides real-world skills that are required when working in the fashion industry. The outcomes have been amazing; playful, experimental, provocative, and very accomplished. They evidence the magic that can happen when teamwork and collaborative production play its part.” - Danny Tracey, Course Leader, BA (Hons) Fashion Styling and Production.

“The Year 1 Fashion Moving Image Unit outcomes have been truly diverse, successful, visually exciting, and refreshingly contemporary. I am incredibly proud of the great work produced, which not only showcases the students’ creativity and ambition but also their ability to collaborate across the Fashion Media Programme. It has been inspiring to see them excel in teamwork, engaging with different peers and perspectives, and producing such innovative and professional outcomes.”
— Kyinat Motla, Senior Lecturer (Unit Leader), BA (Hons) Fashion Styling and Production

Collaboration allowed students to bring forward their specialist skills, whether in styling, image-making, or make-up, into a collective vision. The films also explored themes resonant with the broader culture and society.

This unit is an incredible opportunity for the students to experience an industry-simulated production and begin to build networks. Through the collaborative process, each specialism is seen and heard and the creative outcomes impressive. It has been so encouraging to see our students aiming to make a change in the world and so many of the films responding to themes relating to issues around race, climate and social justice.” — Anna Nwankwo, Course Leader, BA (Hons) Hair and Make-up for Fashion

For Fashion Photography students, the unit provided a new way of thinking about visual storytelling.

“The Fashion Moving Image Production unit reflects the evolving landscape of fashion image-making, where the still image is no longer the only way fashion stories are told. Today, moving image plays a vital role in how fashion is communicated and experienced. This unit offers students the chance to expand into cinematic storytelling—taking on roles such as Director of Photography and Editor, thinking beyond the frame, and exploring how movement, sound, and pacing shape mood, narrative, and style.” — Michiel Meewis, Course Leader, BA (Hons) Fashion Photography

Finally, at the heart of the unit was the drive to experiment and push boundaries, embracing a wide range of influences and approaches.