Thursday 2nd February saw the highly anticipated LCF MA 2012 Graduate show held in the V&A museum's Raphael Gallery. With a star-studded presence, a stunning setting and some impressive collections, the event made me proud to be an LCF student, and even happier that I had a chance to attend.
23 graduates in total presented their collections with Tina Elisabeth Reiter and Hana Cha winning the awards for best menswear and womenswear collections respectively. The collections seemed to swing predominantly between sharp, tailored and angular cuts and long, loose flowing garments. All in all, very little flesh was shown and there was a heavy use of thick materials such as wools and fur.
Below: Tina and Hana's collections (images from Fashion156)
The collections that stood out for me were Seul Ki Uhem's bright pieces in asymmetric cuts. The skirts featured sheer material at the bottom and there was a definite contrast between the masculine tailoring and the bright colours and accents used.
A piece from Seul's collection (image from Metro)
Mei Tang's glamorous collection featured 60s style cat-eye sunglasses and gorgeous leather envelope clutches reminiscent of old school femme fatales. The feline femininity of her collection also evoked a slightly darker feel with the hats adorned with chunky and intricately patterned veils which were also added to some outfits.
Pieces from Mei's collection and her collection illustrations (images from here)
Tsz Fung Kwok's plastic, eye-obscuring headwear and glasses continued to expand on the theme of identity and obscurity which many of the collections seemed to be exploring. These menswear pieces seemed rooted in a future apocalyptic world and the bright, symmetric patterns on the long overcoats strengthened this feeling. Tsz used digital printing to his advantage here, and states that he was inspired by the relationship between Egyptian culture and constellations, which for me, resulted in an effective and striking exploration of a post-modern world.
Rahull Verma's beautiful nude, neutral and white tones and garments embellished with spots of fur trim evoked an ethereal feel in the way the oversized nature of the clothes floated around the models. Inspired by the architectural influence on fashion, Rahull presented a classically beautiful collection of creative and innovative pattern cutting and design.
Part of Rahull's collection (images from here)
However, for me the night wouldn't have been complete without Charlotte Simpson's simply breathtaking collection. I fell in love with the clothes, paraded down the catwalk to the haunting voice of Lana del Ray, and I really felt that Simpson (as opposed to Cha) deserved the prize for best womenswear collection (although she did get nominated). Having taken in the gorgeous and regal beaded gowns in stark white and golden yellow, the floor-length capes and the deep V-cut dresses, I was somewhat surprised to find that Charlotte's collection was in fact inspired by biology. Aptly titled 'Biological Dimensions' it focuses on optimising the surface area to volume ratio in internal biology. Although I have little idea of what this actually means, I know that I was impressed by the stark minimalism and easy wearability of this collection. The shapes were classic, the colours soft, and the lengths of some of the gowns almost had a haute couture type of feel to them. Yet, I felt that they could still be worn as staple pieces in everyday life.
Charlotte's collection (images from Fashion156 and here)
LCF showed a promising crop of talent from this year's graduates, and I am confident that we will be seeing a lot more from them and their promising careers in the near future. If you missed the show, you can watch it here.
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