Feb 23
At FAD, I arrived an hour early and strolled around the same room quite happily until the show started. This was mainly due to the incredible sketchbook/portfolios of the participating designers, all of a beautiful standard. With the brief of creating two garments from 1, a personal memory and 2, a collective memory, seeing each designers interpretation was something these books helped to portray much better. The best part of recorded work is viewing the journey an individual has taken to reach the final outcome, and the samples, sketches and photograhs all riled the young design loving creature in my brain. One that instantly stood out for me was Rebecca Solity of DeMontfort University for her astoundingly professional prep work. Holographs of her researched photographs would not have looked out of place on a necklace or over-adorning a garment. Then the stamps from old photographs were taken and turned into a whole new print design for her final pieces. The journey and different variations she created were executed to perfection in sketch form, the garments looking quite beautiful too.
The winner of the night was Lithuanian, Rasa Abramaviciute and quite deservedly too. Her pieces featured geometric patterns covering a whole dress, curiously looking alike carpet. Definitely one of those garments made to be inspected upon closer viewing, leaving an air of mystery behind the clothing. Another print almost appearing like a scarf knit pattern enveloped a plain white dress, but not in the usual way. Here’ a bridge like construction covered both shoulders, still leaving a pristine white collar peaking out. These two dresses sound quite opposite and all too different to be cohesive, yet upon seeing them, the colourways create the perfect meshing of ideas. Through the garments, a link between them showed that the same materials and patterns aren’t needed when well constructed clothing has a message. Winning a placement at Vivienne Westwood seems very fitting for this promising young designer and I’m sure the experience will only better her blossoming talent.
