These are 5 young designers you should know from LCF MA Womenswear 2016 – from a padded pillowy to a giant ombre fur uniforms, we spotlight the best graduate collections this year.
London College of Fashion‘s annual MA 2016 womenswear showcase took place in the 18th century Royal College of Surgeons building and featured collections by ten graduates selected by a panel of industry professionals. LCF alumni and world-renowned fashion director, Anders Sølvsten Thomsen was also on hand to style the collections, having worked closely with the students last year. Though the graduates presented a very wearable offering, the majority still challenged the boundaries of traditional womenswear design with inspiration as disparate Japan’s Meiji Ishin restoration to the emotional impact of deafness and the interrogation of hierarchal society. Take a look our selection of the best graduate collections from London College of Fashion’s MA Womenswear this year, these are 5 young designers you should know and keep an eye on for the future.
Zhixian Wang
One of our favorite from the annual MA 2016 showcase was Zhixian Wang padded pillowy collection, inspired by the Chinese poet and writer San Mao, who “spent her whole life seeking freedom and true love”. The parade of garments was beginning with all-white and gradually included more orange until the final outfits shown were fully coloured, a progression intended to reflect San Mao’s story.
Ysabel Lee
Ysabel Lee based her work on the Meiji Ishin restoration, which took place in Japan in the 1860s and led to enormous changes in the country’s political and social structure. “This was the first time that Western civilisations impacted oriental countries, it was an era of rapid growth and cultural change for Japan, which is what inspired the spirit of my collection,” she said. Structure is key to Lee’s pattern cutting process and the angular forms of her garments lend themselves to the kimono. She used drapery, pleating and double hems to create her clothes, which also featured large yellow stitches to provide extra details. Square buttons and magnets were used to keep the lines as clean as possible.
Sui Yiru
Sui Yiru sought to combine “zen, the Buddhist practice that originated in China during the Tang dynasty and geometry, the branch of mathematics concerned with questions of shape and size” in her collection of natural, unbleached cotton tops with pleating and wooden panel details, worn with wide pleated skirts, trousers and apron layers.
Yawen Qian
Yawen Qian‘s graduate collection ‘Sick’ has a clinical feel inspired by hospitals and tribute to the work of her parents, both doctors. Qian was inspired by the way that certain garments served an actual function, translating this into a collection which she describes as “minimal, wearable and normal”. Oversized silhouettes define the mood, most of which are engineered in the kind of shiny, wipe-clean fabrics characteristic of hospitals and their clinical nature.
Desirée Slabik
Desiree Slabik‘s ruffled chiffon coats resemble accumulations of red, pink, yellow and white petals are were inspired by post-apocalyptic scenario where all the people on earth have vanished and all that is left are plants, animals and buildings.. Her collection develops from a really white architectural look (inspired by two architects, Louis Khan and Le Corbusier) to a large flower bomb at the end. Desiree Slabik stitched fluffy plumes of organza by hand to form voluminous sleeves and trousers for sharp white outfits, as well as entire ensembles. The ruffled elements were also hand-dyed to create an ombre effect that create the fundamental mood for the narrative.