Graduate Fashion Week: Stars of Tomorrow

LONDON, May 17, 2016

5th-8th June 2016

After a landmark 25 years of bringing the most innovative and exciting young new designers to the world’s attention, Graduate Fashion Week once again showcases the fashion stars of tomorrow with a four-day event in London. Graduate Fashion Week is now as established, as it is influential – it is the ultimate platform for new design talent in the UK, while also throwing the spotlight on exemplary practitioners in creative direction, communication and all aspects of the modern business of fashion. Graduate Fashion Week is the engine that fuels the future of the fashion industry.

Alumni of Graduate Fashion Week include the likes of Christopher Bailey, Antonio Berardi, Stella McCartney, Giles Deacon, Julien MacDonald, Christopher Raeburn and Sophie Hulme. Now in its 26^th year, the class of 2016 is assembled from the most celebrated fashion courses around the country.

Ahead of the summer event, London-based photographic talent Hanna Moon was invited to capture a studio portfolio of work by nine of the most talented graduating designers. Here are two of those chosen. “The pieces shot by Hannah reflect the strength and the breadth of what’s being produced across the UK in some of the world’s most respected academic institutions,” says Martyn Roberts, Director of Graduate Fashion Week.

Graduate Fashion Week is one of the most essential fixtures on the fashion calendar. Book tickets now for the shows taking place at the Truman Brewery from 6^th-8^th June at http://www.graduatefashionweek.eventbrite.com

Courtney Simon, Northumbria University

Courtney Simon’s ‘Real Reflective Roots’ collection is as tough as it is colourful – a patchwork of black contemporary history. Her starting point was an exploration of her family’s Grenadian heritage, the flights of apartheid and the hip hop of the 1990s and 2000s that was omnipresent in popular culture, and which represents a celebratory counterpoint to all that went before. “I wanted to represent the struggles which people went through,” she explains, “but in a new, fun and exhilarating way.”

Louis Trainor-Selwyn, Manchester School of Art    

‘The Bowie’ is a collection that explores the notion of the British dandy, refracted through the lens of Versailles as well as modern street style. When Trainor was on a research trip to Premier Vision in Paris – the fashion industry’s ultimate annual textile showcase – he took time out to visit Louis XVI’s iconic Palace. “I’d always wanted to go, because of the opulent interiors,” he says. “It then inspired me to look at the historical costume of the time. That’s how I subsequently discovered George ‘Beau’ Brummell and the dandies that followed in his footsteps.” Trainor updates the aesthetic of dandyism with élan and rock and roll flair, incorporating bright red fleece and sequin sheen.