Thursday 16th June saw me hot foot it over to Cambridge to meet Alice (The Middle Sister) for the Cambridge School of Art Graduate Fashion Show. I had been looking forward to it for weeks as it was the third time I had been lucky enough to attend. This year’s show was held at the Junction, last year’s was at Duxford Imperial War Museum which I unfortunately missed. In being Alice’s plus one I was very lucky to get to sit front row to enjoy a great view of the show.
I love getting the chance to see collections by up and coming talent and this year definitely didn’t let me down. The show opened with MA Fashion Design and collections by Annabelle Williams with ‘Zona De Confort – SS17’ featuring oversized silhouettes in muted white and bold red, Lucy Loveridge with ‘Art Wear – SS17’ illustrating the wearer as a ‘work of art’, and Milly Jeffrey with ‘Hugge – Seasonless’ which showed bright white androgynous pieces with flashes of yellow.
I had several favourites from the BA (Hons) Fashion Design section of the night. Fourteen designers showcased their work with no two alike. I have tried to narrow them down to my top three which was rather hard given the level of talent on show.
First up is Amy-Louise Rowland with ‘Versatile AW16’. The majority of the collections throughout the night were SS17 so Versatile really stood out for me. I would actually wear the outfit in the top left image along with the scarves. I love the shapes created by the pleats and folds and am a big fan of layering. I want to see movement in the clothes I wear and the draping gives that appearance.
Next up is Pak Woei Chan with ‘Upgrade Me SS17’. This collection could not be further away from my first choice and yet I find it stunning; the finish is incredible. There is so much texture and movement in these pieces and I just love the luxurious quality from these Malaysian inspired designs.
Finally I have chosen Atalya James ‘A Touch of Stone SS17’ which takes inspiration from the natural world. The warm tones really appeal to me and again I am drawn to the luxurious feel you get from each piece. There was great continuity throughout this collection with each piece flowing into the next.
In the three years I have attended the graduate shows this year has to be my ultimate favourite. The standard was so high and I found the collections to be much more wearable than previous years. I love being at shows where you could easily pick pieces off the catwalk to add into your own wardrobe.
Photos take by Richard Tooley.
