Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Lights, Camera's, Action: LCF MA Class of 2011
Wednesday, February 02, 2011Designs by: Suzana Bettencourt Photographer Fernando Lessa Model: Samantha Louise Hicks Designs by Lo...
 |
Designs by: Suzana
Bettencourt
Photographer
Fernando Lessa
Model:
Samantha
Louise Hicks
|
The show entitled MA_11 Duel, presented 22 collections of Men’s and Womenswear showcased to an audience of guests including Harold Tillman CBE, CEO of Whistles Jane Shepherdson, Artist Grayson Perry and TV personality Jo Wood to name but a few.
In this year’s class of 2011 there are students from all over the UK including Wales, Scotland and England, plus further afield such as South Korea, China, USA, Turkey, Ireland, Italy and Denmark.
Highlights of the evening included collections by Jo Power, 27 from County Cork in Ireland, who was awarded the Harold Tillman Scholarship having already picked up a number of accolades, such as Persil Young Designer of the Year 2009 and Nokia Young Designer of the Year 2005. Her collection was perfectly streamlined with strong silhouettes and clean lines in a simple monochrome palette, with vibrant flashes of poppy red. It is testament to Jo’s ability that she is already in talks with investors to set up her own label.
Highlights of the evening included collections by Jo Power, 27 from County Cork in Ireland, who was awarded the Harold Tillman Scholarship having already picked up a number of accolades, such as Persil Young Designer of the Year 2009 and Nokia Young Designer of the Year 2005. Her collection was perfectly streamlined with strong silhouettes and clean lines in a simple monochrome palette, with vibrant flashes of poppy red. It is testament to Jo’s ability that she is already in talks with investors to set up her own label.
MA Digital Fashion graduate, Suzana Bettencourt from the Azores Islands in Portugal, designed pieces inspired by particular African Tribes whose mourning traditions are marked by joyful rituals. The collection, with an emphasis on knitwear due to her BA degree in Fashion Knitwear, was highly sculptural and body conscious using a new technology that pushes the boundaries of the shaping properties of knit - with the ultimate goal of dressing real women with garments that give them shape and support in all the right places. Susana accessorized her collection with statement jewellery hand crafted in Portugal, in collaboration with Miguel Garrido.
Menswear was particularly strong this year, with Danish graduate and another Tillman scholar Asger Juel Larsen, 28, who has already been approached to show at Berlin Fashion Week. Although the coveted MA Collection of the year, presented by Harold Tillman, went to the impressive Italian graduate Matteo Mollinari, 27, whose exquisitely tailored menswear collection fuses traditional tailoring with the more unusual textile techniques, for example hand-made crochet, ultimately creating a highly desirable and modern collection.
The show was a remarkable success, as always, and vital platform for these graduates to launch their careers, eager to replicate the success of previous graduates. Nicole Murray’s, FDT Womenswear 2010, collection was snapped up by Harrods soon after last year’s show and has now debuted her first solo collection last season at On/Off London Fashion Week. Nicole said; “The LCF MA show at the V&A is an excellent platform to put new designers and new labels into the view of major industry players, including key press and buyers. The V&A catwalk show was the turning point of my career”.
A fantastic show and make sure you see my twitter feed for my thoughts on the other designer collections.