20
talented designers showcased their collections in the annual MDes Fashion
Promenades.
Inspirations ranged from Bauhaus textiles and Bridget Riley’s Op Art to armor worn by mediaeval knights, Street art and graffiti, crofting and rural life, traditional
work wear, moss, Dali’s paintings, Art Deco Architectural style and children’s
robots.
Designs by 23-year old Laura Szulska from Poland were unveiled in the MDes Promenades
The 2017 cohort of Masters of Fashion Design
at The Glasgow School of Art unveiled their collections in a series of
Promenades on the evening of 1 September, in the Assembly Hall of the GSA Student
Union . The 20 talented designers hail from as far afield as China, Thailand
and South Korea as well as from Poland, Spain, Scotland and England.
Inspirations for the collections ranged from Bauhaus textiles and Bridget Riley’s Op Art to armor worn by mediaeval knights, Street art and
graffiti, crofting and rural life, traditional work wear, moss, Dali’s
paintings, Art Deco Architectural style and children’s robotswith
the designers showcasing techniques including print, knit, weave and
embroidery.
25-year old Suh Yeon Kim from South
Korea started with outfits work by motor mechanics – a guy who works in a car
repair shop and is carrying out his task under car lift which is raising a car
that is bigger and heavier than him. It seems risky and tough, but he looks
like he has enough responsibility to deal with everything around his situation,
like supporting car or something. Every piece in the collection is based on
practical purpose as workwear such as two-way zips and attachable pocket. Sewing
is replaced by using industrial silicon which is flexible and has superior
adhesive strength to make clothes.
27-year old
Xin Lu from China is fascinated with the bizarre and untouchable world in Shan Hai Jing, a Chinese classic text
and a compilation of mythic geography and myth which has also inspired works by
Ai Weiwei and Angel Chen. The collection combines the neat silhouettes with
different embroidery details to draw the outline of her understanding of the
book, but mainly focuses on the textile design. In particular, the combination
of machine embroidery and hand embroidery, beads and sequins embellishments and
elements recreation will be the feature of mthe work. In
addition, every look has some leather accessories, which is the continuation of
a personal characteristic design style.
27 year
old Tsung-Yun Hsieh from Tawain is a Womenswear specialist. Tsung-Yun’s work strives to communicate beliefs about gender and
identity with clothing through the way it is worn. In her collection she draws
inspiration from her mixed background in Taiwan, combining western and eastern
traditions and ideas. She aims to tell a story about human behavior which is
restricted by ideas regarding gender. We can see sleeves and embroidery
detailing strategically placed over reproductive body parts to help visually
express important contemporary gender issues to the public.
25-year
old Xindi Li fromChina
has taken the theme of hospital for her womenswear collection. From a very young age, the designer would spend
time in hospital with her father, a doctor. The hospital contains many
elements, feelings and emotions – it is place that carries many stories and
interesting things. The collection uses transparent organza and techniques to
create a dreamlike feeling and the atmosphere of hospital.
Kan Chandratip, a 23-year old designer
from Bangkok has taken street art and graffiti as a starting point for his collection. In general people might think
they appear uninteresting and meaningless, but for the designer their
significant purposes of expression was important and Kan was drawn to the
composition and components of the art it self. In this collection, Kan has
expressed the essence of street art and combined it with a silhouette
referencing hip-hop culture.
27-year old Zhang Huan from China who is a knit specialist has taken inspiration
from the armor of medieval Knights armour and female warrior costumes. Huan
admirea a strong silhouette that accentuates the female form and that also
offers protection. The designer has focused on creating a silhouette that
enhances confidence through shaping panels around the body in a considered way. Knit and
crochet techniques are combined to create an individual fabric design, using
metallic viscose yarn to replicate the reflective quality of armour.
Lui Jia China presents a
womenswearcollection
which was inspired by ‘Oh Fairest Of The
Rural Maids,’ a poem by William Cullen Bryant. The main element of the
collection is delicate handcrafted broderie anglaise in pure white
cotton fabric. The silhouette focuses on vintage puff sleeves and is
accessorised with lace bonnets, aprons and gloves.
30-year old David Ramsay from Glenrothes, a knit specialist has created a collection
of knitwear collection for both women and men
which shows a variety of influences including sea shells, knit tradition,
Bauhaus textiles and Bridget Riley’s Op Art. With an emphasis on technical craft, his fabrics explore graphic and
tactile qualities across hand- and machine-knit, underscored by subtle colour
choices.
24-Year old Ren Ziye from China has
created a collection inspired by some board games such as poker, Uno and Chess.
Digital printing has been combed with digital embroidery and hand stiches to
innovate silk fabric. Elements of playing cards are used in the patterns. For the silhouette, the designer was inspired
by the Tangram which is a kind of toy for children. It has 7 pieces which are
all a geometrical shape. Each piece of the garment is geometrical such as a
triangle ora square, but are formed into a very feminine shape.
30- year old Laura Scott from
Manchester, a print specialists, has taken inspiration for the
surface of her textiles from varying forms of maps. Looking at the mappings of
woodlands and wetlands to the rural architecture of Scotland then jumping to
the more relatable form of Ordinance and Survey maps. The theme of the
collection is her idea of her muse, a woman who now lives the rural life in the
elements, but still preserves the person she was before by combing the
practical with the feminine. Laura has combined her research into the Crofters
who on worked the land in the 1900s with contemporary waterproof clothing. She
has experimented with Harris tweeds, waxed fabrics and coated cottons.
23-year old Laura Szulska from
Poland has taken inspiration from photographs of botanicals collected over the past
year with an emphasis on floral forms
and abstract art. She explored the variation of shapes and colours found in her
research through the medium of drawing and collage. This emphasis on a loose
approach to the work gave a greater understanding of the theme and allowed it
to be translated from flat, paper forms into textiles. By choosing to
specialise in mixed media Laura has experimented with embroidery, heat pressing
and laser cutting, and created a textile based garment collection that truly
reflects her style.
24-year oldPietro Bontempi from Italy is a
Menswear/knitwear specialist. The starting point of his project is the idea of coming of age, not in a
traditionally positive way, but more as research into new ways of being,
different from the society’s standard.The
90’s as whole are hia main aesthetic reference, especially films, photography,
fashion and lifestyle. He tried to combine Larry Clark and Calvin Klein. In the
garments this is represented by the juxtaposition of rougher denim and soft
knitwear, minimalistic details and sportswear inspired garments, volumes and
proportions as well are a combination of dropped shoulders and cropped lengths.
24- year old Ziyi Wen from China has
taken inspiration from Art
Deco and has been influenced by the architectural style of that time. Elements
from the architecture have been put in abstract geometric figures and different
combinations of colorations, patterns and scales to show the designer’s
feelings towards different objects.In the process of the creation, different skills such
as collage and Photoshop, were
used to present ideas. Finally, the ideas were printed out, using digital
printing, on the silk.
24-year old Shinying Mo from China is an embroidery specialist who has been inspired by the Japanese
characteristics of the pattern, with tea ceremony, fish, utensils featuring in
the design, picking out details using digital embroidery. The combination of
complex frilly, ruffles and hit colour interpretation, add a romantic and
childlike charm. The material used are mainly wool and silk.
31-year old Alice Hebden from
Glasgow is a textile and fashion designer, specialising in printmaking, dyeing
and distressing fabrics for womenswear. Her work explores the identity of the
artist and their environments.
27-year old Yu Fei from has a specialism in
tailoring. His 4-look
tailoring collection is inspired by the Great Depression and a series of
illustrations by J. C. Leyendecker, one of the preeminent American illustrators of the early 20th century. Exaggerated silhouettes, new structures and surface treatments have
been explored to enhance a mixed style.
22-year old Yang Lui from China has created a collection of womenswear inspired by the life of a friend who has lived in an
environment of domestic abuse.The designer’s specialism is pattern cutting.
In terms of my silhouette, the designer was inspired by emotional changes and
family background and pain in childhood making it heavy and hard for the model
move. Memory foam is used as the main material. The reason is that pain in
one’s heart is unforgettable which is so similar with touching memory foam
In her
final collection 27-year old Paula Helmstedt
De Merit from Spain Paula’s touches on ideas of health and wellness seen
through a fantastical lens. Elements of human anatomy and nature inform one
another and become one. The digital prints in this collection combine organs,
florals and surgical tools to create an ethereal and bizarre universe. Her
silhouettes are influenced by Spanish designers, Balenciaga and Delpozo, both
whose architectural sensibility and simplicity of form inspire her.
The menswear collection by 24-year
old YAXI Du from
China was inspired by tin robots. The designer
has been fond of collecting tin toys since a child and thus I chose tin robots
as the theme for the collection. A range of tin robots were illustrated with
different shapes and colors from the designer’s collection and turned into
handmade embroidery patterns
25 year old Yanqi Wang from China
has created a collection which combines the design thought of
deconstruction fashion with the feature of human figures which in Salvador Dali’s
surrealist work. Combining
feminine and masculine elements together is the key in each silhouette, fabric
and colour development. Pattern cutting and draping are the designers
specialisms and the collection aims to present the topic through silhouette and
construction design. using simple, pure colored fabric to emphasize the
constructions.
The MDes Fashion Promenades
were supported by Buchanan Galleries. Kathy Murdoch, centre manager said: Kathy Murdoch, centre manager at Buchanan Galleries,
said: “As one of the go-to stops for fashion in Glasgow, we wanted to support
the next generation of fashion talent, especially when it’s right on our
doorstep.
“The Glasgow School of Art fashion designers
have promising potential for the industry and it’s an honour to work alongside
them as they begin their careers.”
