The 32nd Edition of Graduate Fashion Week began on Monday in London, an event that has notoriously been a beacon of innovation and creativity, spotlighting talent from leading fashion schools across the globe, from Central Saint Martins to The Academy of Design Atlanta.
The four-day show, organised by the charitable organisation The Graduate Fashion Foundation, exists to champion and give platform to emerging BA fashion talent across 26 different disciplines of the modern fashion business, such as design, photography and communication.
A day spent at the event on its second day as neither student, parent, or hawk-eyed industry professional talent scout makes it feel like a part freshers-fair, part graduation ceremony, part fashion show. A breathtaking catwalk with dazzling designs from students at The Winchester School of Art takes place in one room at The Truman Brewery on Brick Lane where the event is hosted. In the next room, hugs, tears and a cheer of congratulations are shared with a bunch of flowers and returned with a beam of relief from a student, happy to have a few months of stress-free summer before fears about the future may set in. Stands from member universities line another room, adorned with designs and portfolio books from this year’s students to lure in the next batch of hopeful young applicants.
One wall, painted emerald green and showcasing a large sign reading ‘fashion jobs’, known as the ‘jobs hub’, is filled with hundreds of sheets of A4 paper listing job openings in the industry. Throughout the event, GFW presents an array of awards to the rosiest graduates, an ideal addition to the CVs of those applying to such jobs in the near future.
Louie Glen, 24, from Northumbria University, was shortlisted for The Fashion Communication Portfolio Award after completing a BA at the University in Fashion Communication but says he’s aware of the competitiveness that these awards bring.
“Fashion communication is very broad, it has photography, styling, and design, and many different elements in it. One of the things that makes me a bit nervous, is that it isn’t like handbag design for example, where it’s easier to tell what your competition will be. Whereas with this, I’ve got no clue what everyone else’s work is going to be like,” he says.
Alongside a 15-page portfolio highlighting their best work, the award nominees each have to complete a one-on-one interview with an industry professional on the day, and despite his nerves about the other contestants, Louie says he was feeling relaxed about this part. “My interview is early so I’m pleased to get it out the way! Thankfully I’m quite a confident speaker; I did drama when I was young which has made me a good talker,” he says.
Lining the exhibition area are an array of designs made by students, displayed on genderless mannequins and plinths. The designs are served with the diversity of the next generation of fashion talent, with many focusing on inclusivity, perhaps signalling a long-awaited shift in an industry which notoriously lacks representation for anyone other than those who are able-bodied, minus size and heteronormative.
A section of the gallery is dedicated to the ‘Inclusive Fashion Exhibition’, showcasing work such as a button up jacket and oversized trouser pairing worn by a mannequin in a wheelchair, created specifically for those who are wheelchair bound, by student Amy Keep. Opposite is a wall of photographs of models wearing layered designed outfits with patterned fabrics and colourful, voluminous neckties. The work featured is by Bailey Cartlidge, a Staffordshire University student whose practice focuses around their own neurodivergence as a person with autism spectrum disorder, appealing to and catering for others in the ASD community.
Unlike much of the fashion industry, the event is not exclusive, and anyone can purchase a ticket, extending the idea that fashion should be accessible to all. The event comes as a form of escapism for those seeking an atmosphere of positivity for an afternoon, such as Cesca Nutbeem, 27, who works in The West Midlands as an events co-ordinator, but took a trip down to London to break away from her usual 9-5: “I’m really into fashion, it has absolutely nothing to do with my work but that’s why I love it, and I’m here because it’s a creative outlet outside of corporate work for me.”
Pictures: Rosaleen Harris-Davison
Designs: Pius Bentgens