The GFW Gala was a wonderfully star-studded event, with a feelgood vibe. Everyone there was celebrating the amazing creatitivty and talent, and I have to say this year was a particularly good one for fashion. All the prizewinners were top notch, and included some of our favourites from the shows, like Asokua Afriyie-Kumi, Ana Mereno, and Pandora Bahrami.
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Pictured above: Rosie Huntingdon-Whitely, Zandra Rhodes and Erin O'Connor
The GFW catwalk got an exciting makeover for the Gala Show, the catwalk turned glossy black and the holding area played host a champagne reception for the likes of Giles Deacon, Claudia Schiffer and the fashion beauties pictured above.
Caryn Franklin presented, slipping in a few jokes here and there, but the majority of the laughs came from the sponsor seats, as Jeff Banks and Terry Mansfield who whooped it up during the show, clapping and whistling. We were pleased to see many of our favourites in the roll call of winning students, stay tuned for a complete rundown of the deserving graduates.!
We stopped Lara Klawikowski just outside the catwalk at Graduate Fashion Week. She was all dressed up for the gala, and she looked great!
Lara is a 4th year Design student at Cape Town University and had won a trip abroad with her tutor, she was only spending a few days in the capital but had already fallen in love. We snapped her because the chic layering is spot-on and we love the texture of her dress. The peeptoe bootees and sequin shrug are très de rigeur at the moment, and polish her look off perfectly.
With 6 students progressing onto the RCA's MA course expectations were high for Ravensbourne's show.
The students definitely delivered in a strong show with widely differing collections. Hayley Crompton's sharp prints and bright colours suited the delicate volume of her dresses and skirts. Kasia Bishop opted for similar shapes and bright colours with gorgeous laser cut shapes. Sian Lendrum's '80s influenced sheer kimono-style collection obviously paid off as she's been snapped up by Max Mara. Tiphaine Piggot reworked African print fabrics with a grown-up silhouette for an utterly modern look while Marie Molterer wowed with her printed neoprene collection.
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A selection of the outfits from Somerset Collage included Chloe Hacker's, seaside themed collection featuring buckets and windmills, floaty, sequin embellished summer dresses by Katie Quinn, neutrals and burgendy tailoring from Natasha Bosworth and earth-toned, shoulder emphathizing suits by Toni Rogers.
Great show from Nottingham, we focussed on a handful of students, students like Rosie Ray, who conjured a great oversized knit. Jessica Amber-Wiley's medical-influenced collection featured some great sheer tailoring pieces and made great use of pale duck egg blue.
Other notable students include Pandora Bahrami, whose intricate knits with metal rings place her firmly in the cool knitwear camp. April Smith's take on US football was surprising covetable, who wouldn't want padded gold trousers?! Stephanie Hill showed some wonderfully simple elasticated pieces and Megan Humphreys has a way with ruffles. Lastly, Ana Beren Merono's wonderful prints and expert construction make her one to watch.
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We bumped into Esther after the Ravensbourne show, toting an SLR camera and looking pretty cool. The Fashion Textiles student hails from Manchester University and kindly stopped to chat and pose for pictures.
There's no OTT designer or out there retro to her outfit, instead it's just an effective mix of simple pieces. We love the way the army jacket makes the look immediately more casual and wearable. Her bag is from Retro Rehab, one of the many great vintage stores in Manchester, and her cute socks are from H&M.
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