GFW shenanigans..

Small rant:
Because of the ridiculous tube strike, it took me two hours to get to Earl's court yesterday, and it cost me a disgraceful amount of money to get to and from the venue. My cream tulle skirt got caught in the cab's door, and now there's a horrible black oily patch on it after only wearing it the second time. I wasn't feeling too well yesterday morning, and had eaten pizza for all 3 meals. Pretty sick.
Rant over.

Now..the positives! My exposure to the Graduates Fashion Week was amazing. I was actually contemplaiting whether to go or not, because I didn't know anyone who was going initially. I went anyway, and thankfully, Reena from Fashion Dreamer, happened to be going as well!

With the crazy traffic, I arrived at 7 and had half an hour to roam around the exhibition and take as much as I can in. I couldn't remember which designs belong to which university if I even tried to squeeze it out of my brain. Some designs were ok, some great, some that make you gasm. Being there and seeing the graduates' work, made me wish I was a fashion student/designer in London. Shucks!

Here are some of the ones I liked, and apologies for not having the designers/college names..

The show started with some award giving, small speeches, yada yada..
Presentors included Amber Le Bon, Claudia Schiffer, Zandra Rhodes, Giles Deacon, Lorraine Candy, and Matthew Williamson (3 of them were judges as well).

And the show began...

Emily Horwood's collection (University of Northampton) was sophisticated and soft in terms of the floaty fabrics and the draped sillhuettes. . However, the scribbly floral print gave the garments more of an edge..

Ashley Farall (Manchester Metropolitan University School of Art) used 3 primary colours: yellow, red and blue, contrasting with black and white. The designs were voluminous one pieces paired with tights, leggings and comfy trainers..

Charlotte Simpson (Northumbria University Fashion) was the winner of the Zandra Rhodes Catwalk Textiles Award. Charlotte's work showed great attention to detail when it came to panelling and intermixing different prints and textures. All models wore printed arabesque leggings with shift tops..

The Pringle of Scotland Visionary Knitwear Award was given to Pandora Bahrami (Nottingham Trent University). And the designs speak for themselves..

Mehmet Ali (Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication) won the Men's River Island Gold Award, and fair play to him. He constructed the garments beautifully. The suit looked supersleek, and I fell in love with the oversized jacket and ever-so-slightly drop crotch pants. He also used serene soft colours such as cream, grey and dusty pink, and had massive vintage style suitcases accessorizing his lookd. I will say this one more time: I want a boy to borrow boy clothes from..

April Shmite (UCA Epson) actually made me gasp with excitement when I saw her first piece walking down the runway. Circle cut outs tied her pieces together, and some even looked like lovely scalloping..

Akosua Afriyie-Kumi (Kingston University) made me think "How did she do this?!". It was very obvious that a lot of work went into the pieces, even though it looked effortless on the runway. The garments carried loud and bright colours, which is almost always a good thing for me. There was a knitted helmet, which made me want to ride a motorbike. The designs were very structural, and accentuated body curves (bust, hips, shoulders..). There were 2 leather pieces, the yellow raincoat with indigo blue trim, and the marroon body piece..

Ana Merono (Nottingham Trent University) used metallic sheer fabrics along with tough black exoskeleton-like pieces..

Sarah Benning (University of Westminister) collection was very striking (in a good way). She incorporated sheer chiffons with massive knits and plastic tubings..

I think I enjoyed Hannah Taylor's (Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication) runway show the most. The designs, the music, the styling..everything was just right. There was a comedic side to her designs that reinforces the fact that fashion shouldn't be taken too seriously. She was the other menswear designer nominated for the award. Big bulky rainbow coloured knits were used to make massive oversized jumpers and jackets, and were teamed with cropped pants. The head/face pieces were very cool I thought.. one of them was a hound face surrounded with yellow,orange and blue wool strings..

Myrto Samuo (UCA Rochester) was the winner of the River Island Gold Award, and I have to say.. She's the one I was least excited about and least expected to win. But maybe because I'm more into "crazy" designs as opposed to "soft" designs.. But hey, I'm not an official judge. Congrats Myrto!

Yi Le Hunag (Kingston University) made a navy/circus-esque collection that used midnight blue, soft pearl pink with contrasting popping yellow. I really loved her headpieces..

Sarah Burton (Manchester Metropolitan University of Art) reinforced my love for fringing..

Nicola Morgan's (Northumbria University Fashion) collection is perfect for powerwomen. I loved the capes, the suit, the fitted dress, and every little detail..

Congrats again, Myrto.

Some of the amazing people I met last night, all of which were so so soooo lovely..

Erin O'Connor, Susie Bubble, Zandra Rhodes, Fashion Dreamer

Fabulous night. Too much fun.

xx-LJ