If you want to get a taste of tomorrow’s rising talent, you need to take a look at the graduate show of the Central Saint Martins MA Fashion Show. Showing on the London Fashion Week calendar, this year’s theme was “SHINY, SHINY”, a joint show of 32 graduates, exploring the theme throughout their collections. From wearable art to male body inclusivity, this year’s spectacle is striking with new textures, shapes and a reinvention of the conventional runway rules.
Opening with 3D printed garments by James Walsh, he is exploring a playful approach to fashion, referencing scans of several toys on social media. Over 180 looks followed, exploring stories never told before, and breaking social conventions. SLEEK had the pleasure to speak with five stand out designers from this year’s showcase.
A name to remember, the Sheffield native made a particular impression by sending Hijabs down the CSM runway. “My collection focuses on community and changing narratives and stereotypes associated with Muslim men and women”, she tells us. The graduate wants to change the narrative and show that “we are actually cool people”, she continues. Combined with her British upbringing and the influence of tracksuits and her Yemeni heritage and Islamic garments, she created a collection with an important message. To underline this, she designed it all in pairs, to undermine the brother and sisterhood aspect of her community.
Kazna Asker at Central Saint Martins MA Fashion Grad Show at LFW FW22
It’s pink, it glitters and we want it. It feels larger than life. It is a collection to be lived in, not hung in the closet morphing into a ghost inhabiting your wardrobe. “I want my collection to be danced in. It needs movement- you need to have fun in it”, says Thomas Newbury, who celebrates British working class culture in his garments. Born and bred in a seaside town, his garments are there to highlight the crucial little moments in life, when you are able to laugh at yourself. “It is very much about having fun, about going out with your friends, dancing, causing a bit of chaos”, he says.
Thomas Newbury at Central Saint Martins MA Fashion Grad Show at LFW FW22
“Disrupted Immigrant” is Shakila Thebe’s seminal collection, focussing on the “juxtaposition between pre-existing clothes and the ephemeral nature of diaspora identities”, she says. The Nepalese born designer immigrated to the UK when she was 21 years old. Taking her experience in, this collection is a visual celebration of a dislocated immigrant. Telling the identity stories of the Nepalese diaspora, Thebe created something extraordinary. All the fabrics she uses are second-hand, tied in with references to her homeland and her own aesthetic. It is about re-wearability. Her clothes are not just a message, they are art. They read like poetic stories, taking everyone on a cultural journey.
Shakila Thebe at Central Saint Martins MA Fashion Grad Show at LFW FW22
Pauline is a knitwear designer, who essentially patchworks the pieces of her collection together. It’s a wonderful juxtaposition of hand-knitting, stitches and stories. From Paris, she has worked for the likes of Simone Rocha, Molly Goddard and Rejina Pyo. Her collection is about eastern Germany, and “making something absolutely special and beautiful, but with nothing”. Creating garments out of a ball of yarn and needles equals a minimalist process that is not minimalist at all, she says. Looking at her creations feels like reading the purest form of poetry, each stitch crafted with her hands, just like the poet crafts each sentence.
Pauline Dujancourt at Central Saint Martins MA Fashion Grad Show at LFW FW22
Disrupting the traditional connotation of the corset, Juntae Kim is juxtaposing the binaries of women and menswear design. “My main approach is it to juxtapose traditional techniques, such as hand embroidery with modern laser razor cutting or razor engraving”, he says. The main approach of his graduate collection was to combine the historical techniques and modern techniques in his pieces. “My main inspiration for this collection focuses on reinterpreting the incompatibilities between historical womenswear and modern garments based on sustainability and functionality”, he tells us. “I want to make menswear more romantic”.
Juntae Kim at Central Saint Martins MA Fashion Grad Show at LFW FW22