LCF Postgraduate Class of 2026 | Exploring fashion, culture and creativity
- Written byUna Andzane
- Published date 26 October 2026
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Dried flowers, Colombian weaving traditions, and a television quiz show might not seem to have much in common. But across this year's London College of Fashion (LCF) Postgraduate Class of 2026 exhibition, they become starting points for exploring how fashion connects with culture, identity and the world around us.
The LCF Postgraduate Class of 2026 Exhibition brings together graduates from the Fashion Business School, School of Media and Communication and MA Fashion Textiles Technologies course. From experimental textiles and digital platforms to immersive experiences and research, the work on display reveals just how far fashion's influence extends beyond clothing.
Finding beauty in unexpected places
Dried flowers are often seen as reminders of something that has passed its prime. For MA Fashion Textiles Technologies graduate Jianuo Zhou, they offer a different perspective on ageing.
In Beyond Bloom, Jianuo draws inspiration from the fading colours, curling petals and fragile structures of dried flowers, translating these qualities into knitted textiles through experimental techniques including dyeing, layering and mending.
The resulting collection, designed for high-end womenswear, embraces the marks left by time rather than trying to conceal them. It's a response to fashion's fixation on youth and perfection, and a reminder that beauty doesn't necessarily disappear with age.
Nature also takes centre stage in Angela Romano's project, Crafting the Balance: Between Human and Nature, although her focus is on finding alternatives to the materials traditionally associated with luxury.
Feathers, crocodile, alligator and lizard skins provide the visual references, but Angela is more interested in their movement, textures and patterns than reproducing the materials themselves. Using recycled textiles, Peace Silk and cactus-based leather, she combines digital embroidery and knitting with hand techniques such as cutting, fraying and painting.
The results bring together the precision of digital technology and the irregularities of handmade craft. By capturing the qualities that make animal-derived materials desirable through other means, Angela questions whether luxury needs to depend on their use at all.
The stories behind what we wear
A woven textile can carry much more than a pattern. It can hold generations of knowledge, local traditions and the identity of the person who made it.
That's the thinking behind FIBRA: Weaving Narratives, a digital platform developed by Fashion Business School graduate Valeria Leon Niño to bring Colombian artisans and their work closer to consumers and designers.
Rather than presenting weaving as a finished product, FIBRA introduces the people and communities behind it. Each artisan has a dedicated space to share their story, materials, techniques and cultural background, giving visitors a better understanding of the craft before considering a purchase.
The platform also makes it easier for designers to discover and connect directly with artisans, creating opportunities for collaboration while keeping the makers and their knowledge at the heart of the experience.
Questions about cultural value also underpin Vincent Mauerhofer's research. But instead of looking at traditional craft, the MA Fashion Design Management graduate turns his attention to the relationship between luxury fashion houses and contemporary artists.
An artist's name or artwork on a designer handbag is a familiar sight. But what makes these collaborations genuinely creative, rather than simply commercial?
In Translating Culture: Managing Fashion-Art Collaborations for Genuine Cultural Meaning, Vincent interviews designers, artists, brand managers, gallerists and curators to examine how these partnerships work behind the scenes.
His findings suggest that meaningful collaborations don't necessarily require both sides to influence each other equally. What matters is how deeply artistic ideas become part of the garment itself, from its fabric and construction to the way it interacts with the body. It's a distinction that raises interesting questions about creative ownership and the pressures of fashion's seasonal calendar.
Different ways of seeing the world
What happens when we experience time differently from the expectations of everyday life? In Fashion Ticks on Queer Time, School of Media and Communication graduate Clovis Woolley explores London's queer nightlife and the communities formed within its club spaces.
Drawing on personal experience through autoethnographic research, Clovis examines how bodies, movement and shared experiences shape perceptions of time and space. The project considers how queer nightlife creates room for alternative ways of belonging and telling stories, beyond conventional social expectations.
A very different kind of experience awaits audiences in Yunqi Ma's project, 333. At first glance, it looks like a television quiz show. Players become contestants and are asked to answer three apparently simple questions, using video footage, documents, audience responses and clues from the host to make their decisions.
But something isn't quite right. As the game progresses, the evidence becomes increasingly uncertain, and the host, audience and even the game itself seem to be connected to a mysterious entity known as 333.
Combining moving image, game mechanics and psychological horror, the MA Fashion Media and Communication graduate creates an unsettling experience inspired by research into conspiracy culture, algorithms and the ways people form beliefs online.
Rather than telling players what to believe, Yunqi places them inside an environment where information is constantly repeated, questioned and reframed. It's an experiment in how easily our sense of reality can be influenced by the media we encounter.
See more work from across LCF's postgraduate courses at the LCF Postgraduate Class of 2026 Exhibition, taking place from 27 October – 3 November 2026 at London College of Fashion, UAL, East Bank, 105 Carpenters Road, London E20 2AR.
The exhibition is free and open to all.
Find out more about the exhibition.
- Explore more MA courses at LCF
- Find out more about UAL Shows
- Discover more LCF graduate work on UAL Showcase