Manchester Fashion Network

University of Salford BA (Hons) graduate fashion design catwalk show.

29/05/08

Location: Town Hall, Albert Square

By Abi Corbett

A collection of Manchester’s fashion elite, hastily headed to the town hall on Thursday 29th of May, to view the final collections from some of Manchester’s fresh new design talent. The calibre was high, with students showing having interned at the likes of Burberry, Anna Sui, Alexander McQueen and accumulated interest from Maxmara and Trendstop, and this was reflected in each and every single collection.

With Hair by Toni & Guy and make up by The Body Shop the event, which was hosted by Nick Cook, editor of Menswear Buyer, was an excellent presentation on the fashion stars of the future.

The opener for the show was Angela Gbemisola, who also scooped the coveted award for most innovative and outstanding student of the 16 strong group. Her collection was based on the concept of Dark Matter, relating to themes of abstract and Challenge. This was apparent in her pieces due to her trend for thick knits, volume around the upper arm and the draping of her garments.

Odilia Li followed, with her collection focused on the theme of Circus Freaks. With their inspirations taken from ‘Big Fish’ and Leigh Bowery, her pieces were created in a range of sugary candyshop colours, with contrasting stripes, polka dots and mismatched hemlines.

Sarah Cooper drew inspiration from ‘What lies beneath’ for her collection, stating that darkness lies beneath faceless glamour. Her highly sculptured yet loose pieces included volumised jodhpurs, and tight pleated skirts, all in muted colours with a pop of attention grabbing pink.

Bianca Donn then presented her own views on indulgence through her lavish collection. Channelling summer staples, the jumpsuit, and maxi dress, whilst adding glamour through light silks and tightly woven knits.

Ruta Yohanes then focused on architecture, detail and structure in their collection entitled ‘Habel.’ Her pieces consisted of layered fabrics, pleats slightly reminiscent of scales, all in complimenting icy blues, warm oranges and lemons.Ashok Odedra presented the only menswear collection. Inspired by traditional men’s clothes, infused by ancestral links and men’s attire of the Gugrat region in India. The contrast of flannelling, classic tailoring and tight second skin pants were prominent in his show. Tailored trench coats, with connotations of skirts for men, therefore perhaps challenging typical gender conventions.

Sophie Longster presented her eerily light chiffon pieces, based on the idea of stardom, Hollywood glamour in the golden years. Her loose, dreamlike collection was constructed out of barely there fabric, thus giving a see through illusion.

Estelle Pearce’s collection conjured military images, strict straight lines and dark industrial greys, suggestive perhaps of an underlying bondage influence. Pearce states she was “influenced by the evolution of mind, how a reflection on the past to inform a possible future”.

However in contrast to her stringent and firm collection, she included a maxi dress reminiscent of water ripples due to the sheen and dye techniques.

Edina Cohadzic also used flannelling and thick knits to create her ‘Devotee’ collection inspired by the veil and Eastern cultural traditions. The contrasting colours revealed underneath or inside the garments complimented the tight, bold body-con layers. The tenth graduate Kirsty McGill focused on recreating the human anatomy and the formation of muscles in ‘Anatomic abundance’ Her technique of layering shredded knits added intricate coated detail to adorn her pieces.

Sally Evans took inspiration from the highly popular film Amelie, as the main character distracts herself from daily life with Simple Pleasures. This was reflected in her collection, as her garments were ornamented with paint splashes, textured patches and structured pleats, in typically feminine pastels.Lucy Turner’s contrasting bold electric collection then followed, under the title of ‘Disco Tramp’ she posed the question ‘Freedom. Is it an illusion?’ Her work focused on manipulation with zips, bold electric blues, oranges, and red’s to create her vision.

Emma Horsman chose to challenge the perfect image, through ‘perfect imperfection,’ her collection of free fitting chiffon drape garments. Volume was very much focused around the upper arm, to create the pleating in the faded pastel tones of the fabric she worked with.

Kerry Kempster offered varied hemlines, in the form of her ‘Soft Robotics’ final collection. Draped metallics teamed with feather light layers and toffee coloured shinpads added a sense of defence to her collection.

Oliver Stanion entitled his collection ‘Sunday Best’ to portray his interpretation on country and city life, the differences between urban and organic. This transitional collection featured leather like volumised coats, and volume centred around the knees, teamed with contrasting loose dresses.

Yelena Smirnova finally closed the event, with her take on the ‘Metamorphosis of love’ she focused on the emotions and contrasting feeling through the change from one to the other by the draping and loose chiffons of her garments and various of volume.

Find out more at: www.artdes.salford.ac.uk

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