The 2015 showcase of designs by Masters of Design in Fashion + Textiles at the GSA saw fifteen talented young designers from across the globe unveil collections in The Vic on the evening of Friday 11 September as part of The Glasgow School of Art’s Graduate Degree Show.
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Designs by Xuenan Cui, Greg Learmonth and Jing Jing Zhou
Designs by Sujin Lee, Callum McKay and Amy Gair
Designs by Xinyue Zhang, Ellen Carrick and Aleem Ul Hassan
Designs by Ho-Fan Wu, Yifei Liu and Alanah Greentree
Designs by Hayley McSporran, Emma McAndrew and Tommy Zhong
All photos: Alan McAteer
Inspirations for the designs ranged from floral to fine art, Ivy League University rowing clubs to industrial machinery, sculpture to sweets, and with specialisms embracing print, embroidery, weave and knit.
This year’s cohort includes designers from across Scotland and international students from Australia, China, Pakistan, South Korea and Taiwan.
“We have seen some delightful collections emerge from the programme this year,” says Jimmy Stephen-Cran, Head of Fashion + Textiles at The Glasgow School of Art. “The students have experimented with highly diverse approaches to practice and drawn their inspiration from a varied selection of historical, contemporary and cultural influences”
“Bespoke, couture and highly individual the designs reflect both the many cultures and perspectives of our international students and the creative environment fostered at The Glasgow School of Art,” he adds.
Collections
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| Photo - Alan McAteer |
25-year old Xuenan Cui from Beijing, China has drawn the inspiration for her collection from sweets. She began by photographing a collection of different sweets and translated these into delicate patterns which resembled kaleidoscopes. Having initially recreated the designs in multi-coloured foils she then applied techniques including plotter cutting and a hitter press to apply the pattern to the fabric so that the final pattern had the same intensity and vibrancy as the original foils. The silhouettes of the mainly leather and wool garments are simple to allow the decoration to shine out.
24-year old Greg Learmonth from Glasgow is one of the first cohort of Glasgow School of Art Fashion Design graduates (2014) who have continued their studies at the GSA. His Master’s collection of menswear is inspired by the warm off-white tones of Ivy League University Rowing clubs. Subtle cuts are altered to expose and pronounce delicate areas like that of the neck and collar bone. Wide pleated pants weigh the looks down to the ground, billowing as the wearer walks. Made of separates the collection is a development of white waxed cotton belted macs, cotton drill bombers, silk jersey off the shoulder blousons and pleated wool pants all finished with classic, graphic silk scarves and ribbed wool sweatbands for the head.
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| Photo - Alan McAteer |
25-year old Jing Zhoufrom Shandong, China specialises in Embroidery. She has used flowers as the focus of her striking collection of women's wear. Employing a range of techniques and fabrics (including plastic and terracotta) she has created hundreds of vibrantly coloured 3D flowers each of which is unique. The flowers have been applied to garments made in cashmere creating a mass, textural effect.
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| Photo - Alan McAteer |
25-year old Sujin Lee from Seoul, South Korea has likewise taken inspiration from nature for her collection, in her case the park close to where she lived in Seoul. With a background in Fine Art her collection started with hand drawn botanical illustrations which she then printed on to the garments.
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| Photo - Alan McAteer |
23-year old Callum McKay from Glasgow was also one of the first cohort of Bdes Fashion Design students to graduate from the GSA (summer 2014). For his Master’s presentation he showed a menswear collection in aged denim with a silhouette of large shapes fused with an urban aesthetic. The fabric and aesthetic tap into the history of denim and how in the 1950s an industrial look and fabric became synonymous with youth and rebellion.
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| Photo - Alan McAteer |
24-year old Amy Gair from Lerwick has created a collection featuring woven textiles that draw on the rich traditions and colours of the Shetland Islands. The garments which are made in 100% Shetland wool, cashmere, lambswool and merino capture the movement of lines and colour from her own photography and mixed media artworks.
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| Photo - Alan McAteer |
24-year old Xinyue Zhang from China is a specialist in Embroidery. Her women's wear collection combines different texture and colours using different embroidery techniques and textiles. The collection features silhouettes that are oversized and freecut, including wide trousers, wrap skirt, and big scarves. Even though it is an autumn/winter collection Xinyue has featured see-through fabric in designs so as to show multiple textures in the different looks. Other fabrics include faux fur, mohair, wool and leather with some beadwork.
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| Photo - Alan McAteer |
22-year old Ellen Carrick from Glasgow is a specialist in knitwear. For her Master’s collection she has created a range of menswear tops inspired by sportswear. Knitted in mercerized cotton, some of the pieces are embroidered using either the linking machine or are Swiss darned by hand. Street style and subcultures have also had a big influence on Ellen’s work, especially the juxtaposition of smart and casualwear. Keeping the trousers smart and the jackets in a bomber style she has married the tailored and sportswear styles to create a rounded summer men's wear collection.
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| Photo - Alan McAteer |
23-year old Aleem Ul Hassan from Karachi, Pakistan has created a collection based on deconstruction. Attracted towards the process of decay in wood and metal, both of which have different properties yet experience the same process of decaying, he captured this idea and reconstructed it using traditional tie and dye, as well as mixed media techniques.
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| Photo - Alan McAteer |
25-year old Ho-Fan Wu from Kaohsiung City, Taiwan has taken her inspiration from
traditional Japanese culture, in particular the patterns which are normally used on Kimonos: the representative Japanese flowers (such as Sakura - cherry blossom and plum blossom) and geometric patterns. Ho-Fan Wu has studied ISE KATAGAMI which inspired her to employ the technique of foil print rather than screen print in the collection. The main fabrics for the collection are black flock and black glossy vinyl with black paint vinyl and antique sliver vinyl as auxiliary fabrics. The silhouette for the collection is inspired by the “lamp shade” as seen in both the Japanese subculture - Lolita fashion style - and in traditional Victorian dresses.
25-year old Yifei Liu from China has explored time in three ways her collection: decay, shelf life and germiculture. To encapsulate the nature of decay Yifei buried a number of the garments and fabrics in soil. Using flock embroidery she has added texts from sell by dates on goods bought and photographed in a supermarket to garments, evoking the film Chungking Express in which the hero thinks of love as like the inside of the supermarket with a shelf life. For the final part of her collection Yifei conducted cultivated bacteria and then used felting to recreate the texture of bacteria on garments.
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| Photo - Alan McAteer |
29-year old Alanah Greentree from Brisbane has drawn on the rugged beauty of the flora in her native Australia to create digital prints on linen and double georgette. She has also drawn on her background in industrial design in the creation of laser cut elements for her collection, ranging from timber embellishments to felt hats.
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| Photo - Alan McAteer |
23-year old Hayley McSporran from Glasgow was the recipient of the GSA John Mather Rising Star Scholarship. Her S K U L P T U R V ( ) I D collection is a range of conceptual, sculptural but ultimately wearable pieces for women's wear inspired by the abstract sculptural forms of Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore.. Soft draped silk and jersey dresses are worn against more structural wool outerwear pieces. Lamifix has been applied to fabrics to create textural and surface structure replicating Hepworth's forms. Haley has experimented with Japanese pattern cutting techniques to create ‘voids’ within the fabric to reflect the apertures and gauged out cavities as seen in Hepworth's and Moore’s work.
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| Photo - Alan McAteer |
23-year old Emma McAndrewfrom Glasgow completed her undergraduate degree in Textiles (knit) at The Glasgow School of Art and has gone on to develop her knitted textiles into a full knitwear collection. The men's wear garments, which range from fine knit intarsia jumpers to chunky over pieces, are inspired by industrial machinery. Materials include Cashwool, (an extra fine Merino), as well as hints of Angora and Lambswool.
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| Photo - Alan McAteer |
24-year old Tommy Zhong from China was one of the first cohort of Fashion Design students to graduate from the GSA (summer 2014). Since completing his undergraduate Degree he has already been making a name for himself and has been featured in a number of leading magazines including Italian Vogue. His Master's collection has been inspired by contemporary art practice, particularly the works of Anna Betbeze and Leopold van de Ven, fusing hand painted textural marks in primary colours and winter whites, set against a neutral canvas palette. The bold graphic brushstrokes provide a cracked textural surface to faux fur whilst concealing hidden pocket details.
The 2015 Fashion Promenades were sponsored by Buchanan Galleries and Vidal Sassoon and The Academy of Makeup.
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.
Look books for the collections are on show at Graduate Degree Show from 12 - 18 September. Open Monday – Friday 10am –9pm; Saturday/Sunday 10am - 5pm. Entry free
Ends
Further information:
Lesley Booth
0779 941 4474
press@gsa.ac.uk