Fashion / Interviews
UWE fashion graduates
June is an extremely busy month for UWE’s fashion students. The atmosphere must be electric on campus with all the gathering of garments, polishing of portfolios and prepping for presentation. “It’s exciting, our students are heavily involved in three shows; Graduate Fashion Week (May 29 – June 2), the UWE Degree Shows (June 5 – 11) and New Designers (June 24 – 27),” says Deborah Southerland, programme leader of UWE’s fashion degree.
These shows are not canapé-networking over portfolios with a flourish. This is fashion; flamboyant, innovative and energetic. It’s also big business, worth £26 billion a year. Despite economic issues in the UK, the fashion industry’s employment has seen its value grow by 22 per cent since 2009.
“The shows are really thrilling – the culmination of three years hard work and great achievement. It’s always hectic while the exhibitions are on – but the students have to be professional as these are industry level showcases.
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“The three exhibitions are designed by a team of staff and students. We always try and go for a different theme each year – this year were giving a nod to the 1980s design group Memphis, and their eye popping use of colour.”
Graduate Fashion Week’s aim is to unify and celebrate creativity in the UK and internationally. Taking place in London the schedule includes work from 40 universities, 22 catwalk shows and 1,000 students, not to mention workshops and talks with the fashion elite; Hilary Alexander, Mary Kratrantzou and Victoria Beckham. While UWE’s Creative Industries Degree Show is an inspiring showcase of the work of graduates in art, design, filmmaking and media courses.
“For students, the shows are an opportunity to showcase their work, and to get a wide variety of industry feedback. We have lots of industry experts coming into the programme, but on the exhibition stands you never know who you are going to be talking to about your work, it could be a talent scout or someone who’s just interested fashion. In the past we’ve had interest from brands like Abercrombie and Fitch, Karen Millen and Marks and Spencer’s”
New Designers takes place in London at the Business Design Centre, and features over 3,000 graduates. It’s considered extremely important by brands and designers, as well as the public – looking for an original and innovative piece by up and coming talent. This year, New Designers celebrates 30 years and is an important date in the calendar of universities with top creative courses. UWE’s fashion degree has a focus on matching the learning experience, with the needs of the fashion industry. They also include work placements – all over the world – preparing students for their future employment.
“Studying at UWE provides a good balance between technical skills and creativity. Students gain a complete understanding of the design process and develop strong individual styles. They work in dedicated design studios and in industry standard technical workshops. Our technical staff are brilliant. Students build their knowledge and skills progressively on the programme and are encouraged to play to their strengths. We are one of only a few universities that ask our students to make all their final collections, so our students are incredibly technically adept.”
The hope of course, is that after June’s showcasing graduates will become part of fashion’s ever-increasing workforce. UWE’s fashion course has some impressive statistics on this, with latest employment figures showing that 95% of graduates were in employment within six months of graduating
“Completing a fashion degree is serious creative journey, students come to us – often at only 18, and by the time they leave they are ready to take up professional roles in industry. The transformation is unbelievable and the result of so much hard work and tenacity on their part. I always feel very proud of them and proud to be part of that transformation.”
For more information about the course visit the website here: www.courses.uwe.ac.uk/W230/ Instagram: uwe_fashion
William Morris, Fashion BA (Hons)
“For AW/15 I questioned what garments could be. Taking inspiration from the distorted figures drawn by children, I used bonded felt and jersey to create a mix of silhouette distorting pieces, and a childlike colour palette.”
Ella Keating, Fashion BA (Hons)
“Questioning established Western standards of beauty, my graduate collection encompasses both men and womenswear. It draws influence from the conflicting ideals of the notion of Wabi-sabi and the theory of divine proportion. Furthermore it plays upon ideas of perfection and imperfection. This concept translates an understated aesthetic through the use of complex cut.”
Kathryn Drury, Fashion BA (Hons)
“This was a collaboration with a design student whose collection was intended for the fashion brand COS. This shoot explores a minimal aesthetic, whilst playing with a conceptual and contemporary approach to visuals.”
Gemma Stephens, Fashion Communication BA (Hons)
“The images I produce are rooted in the everyday, the mundane and the banal, with a focus on emphasising certain physical or social characteristics portrayed by models and locations. This capturing of candidness is essentially still performed and the viewer is complicit in sharing the dry humour presented.”
Sabine Huerzeler Fashion BA(Hons)
“Reinvented Future demands a commitment to highest quality and to innovation in the selection and combining of materials, techniques and production. Digital and analogue, simple and complex, pretty and ugly, that which is precious and that which, at first glance, may appear to be junk. Reinvented Future knows no conflicting contradictions. Based on those materials that surround us, it pays homage to what is new, unfamiliar and imperfect. Wood on knitted silk or a silicon mesh – concepts such as these allow new avenues to be explored in the handling of materials in the world of textiles and fashion. Inspired by surrealism and the small inconsistencies in everyday life, I have created a multifaceted textile collection. Innovative in its feel to the touch and in the combination of colours and materials. An experience that stimulates all the senses and raises more questions than it answers.”
Images by Clementine Hardcastle (Ella Keating), William Morris, Sabine Huerzeler and Kathryn Drury