Burt, Brill & Cardens Solicitors, Brighton Graduate Fashion Show – By Amanda Waters
To continue our theme for Graduate Fashion Week, we popped along to the Brighton Graduate Fashion Show, full of anticipation, and we were certainly not to be disappointed.
Colourful prints on sheer, fluid fabrics, jackets embellished with dinosaur heads and long spikes, ballerina skirts, tennis rackets, and knitwear in abundance. The Brighton Graduate Fashion Show had it all!
The show was once again an intriguing mixture of designers, some of whom had decided to take the commercial route, going for practicality and longevity, and others who had refused to let their creativity be stifled by the current economic climate. The result was a mesmerising collection, with all the theatrics which one would expect from a Graduate Show, but also an intense emphasis on wearability.
Knitwear was particularly prevalent during the show,with garments ranging from micro dresses teamed with thick black leather leggings and heavy boots, to comfortable and versatile tunic and mini dresses (a la Hollie Maloney and Lily Hibbert) all worn with very thick tights. A maxi dress, with Elizabethan collar, tight ankles and slits for pockets, fitting snugly to create a stunning sillhouette, and a soft, oversized brightly coloured striped jumper dress (which would look fabulous on any size). Holey woollen dresses and tops which looked like lace, teamed cleverly with shiny experimental fabrics and extremely high heels to look both elegant and edgy. (All of which left me wondering how soon I could order.)
Rebecca Mears’ tailored and delicate separates were subtly and exquisitely embellished, and Anisha Mistry’s pieces looked sophisticated yet comfortable enough to wear all day at the office, and still look fabulous for dinner. Jennifer Dalby’s ‘sheep to shoulder’ oversized knitwear designs which were inspired by 1920’s climbing exhibitions, displayed much rustic charm.
Cathrin Evans took inspiration from English Shooting Parties, with an element of punk in her knitwear collection, with green striped and hooded plaid jackets, and Nathalie Robins’ woven stole wound around the shoulders of this season’s staple,the white shirt, looked both crisp and strong. Ruth Carpenter’s butterscotch checked knitted mini dresses were simply chic, and would be an essential part of any young fashionista’s wardrobe. Katie Robinson, made no bones about her views ofthe current climate adorning tights with pound signs,and tee-shirts displaying the word ‘Bankrupt’ and models in bowler hats, and Jessica Eve Watkins’ playful collection of exaggerated skirts, preppy blazers, knee high socks and tennis rackets amused the audience proving once again, that even in the face of adversity ‘creativity will out’.
Written by Amanda Waters.
Photography – Fashion Show Images.
(As Published in Aspect County Magazine).
www.aspect-county.co.uk