Graduate Fashion Week

Today I went up to Earls Court in London to assist with the Bournemouth Graduation runway show. I was unable to help backstage, as the passes had run out, I was however, placed on front of house, ushering guests into their seats. I also managed to see the show, as well as a couple of others, which was a really good experience.

The first show I saw was the Liverpool John Moores School of Art & Design. It was a really good show, and the students work was creative in a more commercially viable way than our own show, with plenty of floaty fabrics and feminine layering. I personally found it inspiring, particularly the menswear collection by Ellie Arif.

After this show, R&B star Tinie Tempah took to the River Island stage for a set. This was very unexpected, and a nice interval in between the shows. We then had a wander around the exhibition space and found out more about the different universities collections, and realised that some of them have their own particular style.

Our 3rd year graduates were showing with bath spa, and after ushering people to their seats we stayed to watch the show. It was a really creative and interesting show, and the collections were all really inspiring. Bath Spa used gimics such as spotlights, a rain simulation intro, and heavily remixed music, but the AUCB work, certainly stood on its own.

When leaving Earls Court, myself and a couple of others spotted Erin O'Connor, and she was nice enough to stop and chat to us for a while. She was explaining how she thinks it is sad that design students cannot express their true creativity, instead having to take into consideration the commercial viability of their work, and that she was at Earls Court to give a presentation to university lecturers about this matter. She was also telling us about "All Walks Beyond The Catwalk" (http://www.allwalks.org). This is a campaign to introduce a different kind of model to the fashion industry, and to work with designers and models to achieve this. "All Walks Beyond The Catwalk is a new initiative which recognises a shift in mood and attitude in fashion and a need to broaden the message our industry send out to the rest of the world." She was a very warm and friendly person who had a genuine interest in us as students, and was also wearing an accessory by one of our designers, what a great experience.