Creative Idle mentioned on London College of Fashion blog

 

Fashioning the Future Awards 2011 (written for SIX Magazine)

Images courtesy of Alex Maguire and LCF

Last Thursday SIX Magazine were invited to the annual Fashioning the Future Awards pioneered by London College of Fashion’s Centre for Sustainable Fashion. Held in the heart of the financial district in Canary Wharf’s domed East Wintergarden, aspiring designers and S+E fashion experts gathered to find out which graduates were to be crowned cream of the crop for 2011.

Founded just three years ago, the awards have gone from strength to strength encouraging a new generation of fashion innovators to pursue design-led solutions and sustainable practice in business. In a short space of time, the Fashioning the Future Awards has become the leading international student competition for design and innovation in sustainable fashion, attracting thousands of entries from around the world.

Up first was the award for Unique Balance which went to the deserving Sara Emilie Terp Hansen from Denmark. Using cork, a material usually associated with the wine industry, and giving it a new lease of life with a fashion forward application, Hansen was a clear winner highlighting the neglect of a valuable natural resource. The cork industry is currently threatened by the growth in plastic alternatives to classic bottle stoppers. This threatens the continued existence of cork forests worldwide; an important natural habitat and source of livelihood for many communities.

To read the full article visit SIX Magazine.

LCF Presents Catalytic Clothing (written for SIX Magazine)

Erin O'Connor in a still from Catalytic Clothing Film. Image by Adam Mufti, courtesy of LCF

Last week SIX Magazine was invited down to the headquarters of the London College of Fashion for the launch of their latest innovation; Catalytic Clothing.
Created in partnership with University of Sheffield and University for the Arts London, Catalytic Clothing is a collaboration that brings together the spheres of fashion and science, to explore how textiles and nanotechnology can be used to form a catalytic surface to purify the air in our environment.

Catalytic Clothing’s aim is to harness the power of a photocatalyst to break down airborne pollutants such as industrial pollutants and car exhaust fumes. Catalytic Clothing materials reorder the electrons in the constituent atoms of the fabrics to create a more reactive surface. These outer electrons then react with the water molecules in the air breaking them into two radicals (extremely reactive molecules). These radicals then react with the pollutants creating non-harmful chemicals as an end product.

Read the rest of the article here.

Danny Tang Injects Some Old Hollywood Glamour - With A Twist

A hot new designer on my radar is Mr. Danny Tang. As you’ll know the Golden Age of cinema is a big interest of mine, so when I heard that Tang had themed his AW11 collection on this era, my interest well and truly peaked.

Images courtesy of Felicities PR

Finding inspiration in himself, Tang juxtaposes the hard and soft sides of his character alongside inspirations from old Hollywood movie stars and singers. Effortlessly translating this to fabric, each garment reflects both textures; hard being evident in dark tuxedo colours, that are inherently masculine by nature, and soft being found in flirtatious lines and overtly feminine silhouettes.

Breathing a new lease of life into menswear suiting fabrics, each piece perfectly combines the masculine and feminine creating a capsule collection that instead of being predictably androgynous, instead offers sensual and edgy fashion that offers the wearer something that truly is one of a kind.

Hailing from Malaysia, Tang initial training in Kuala Lumpur excelling as the youngest student in the SML fashion academy, before completing his fashion education at the London College of Fashion and Instituto Marangoni. Launching his eponymous label in 2009, since then Tang has achieved many great things, most notably in my book having pieces sought out by none other than Grace Jones!

Fresh From The Production Line: LCF teams up with New Look

A few weeks back I was invited to view a very exciting collaboration between London College of Fashion students and high street retailer New Look. Aptly called the Master’s Collection, this unique and highly creative capsule range of footwear is set to launch in stores both nationwide and online from the middle of May, making it accessible to all.

Whilst providing a highly covetable platform for four students studying MA Fashion Footwear, Master’s Collection is also a competition which has seen the overall winner, Chang (Ralf) Seok Ko gain the opportunity to travel overseas to see his designs produced by one of New Look’s suppliers.

Over a year ago in March 2010, New Look set London College of Fashion students on the internationally renowned Cordwainers MA Fashion Footwear course the task of designing a range of shoes with a view to one or more of the styles being selected to comprise the highly exclusive six style Master’s Collection.

Judged by a select panel - which reads like a who’s who of British fashion - New Look’s Barbara Horspool (Group Design Director), Malcolm Collins, (Director for Footwear and Accessories) Fiona McGuire, (Senior Footwear Designer)and Helen Bleazard (Head of Buying – Footwear and Accessories) were joined by LCF Professor Roy Peach (Dean of the School of Graduate Studies). Also sitting on the panel and providing a critical designer eye were famed British footwear designer Jonathan Kelsey and everyone’s favourite womenswear designer Giles Deacon, who has direct experience in working with New Look himself designing the Gold by Giles capsule collection for the past three years.

Overall winner Chang (Ralf) Seok Ko surpassed himself producing three of the winning designs (a flat sandal, a high open toe mule and a mid heel strappy sandal), with runners up Ruth Jones, Adriana Iurascu and Kim Kwang producing one exquisite design each.

'Kissed by Lulu Guinness' pop-up-store

Way back in October I went to hear a Q+A session with the lovely Lulu Guinness at the V+A, which I wrote about for Freestyle Magazine’s blog. Whilst there Lulu mentioned that from 2010 she would be founding an eponymous scholarship for MA Artefacts students studying at London College of Fashion, to mark the 20th anniversary of her world-famous accessories brand.

Fast forward to February – more commonly known as now – and Lulu is set to open a pop-up-shop off London’s infamous Carnaby Street (which coincidentally is celebrating 50 years of its own in 2010). Branded as ‘Kissed by Lulu Guinness’ - after the ‘Lips’ clutch bags she is synonymous with – the store will celebrate both Valentine’s Day (pass the sick bucket) and the fast approaching London Fashion Week, stocking only ‘Lips’ related products.

Carrying on the LCF link (as that was my point after all), a percentage of sales from the ‘Lips’ clutches will be donated to London College of Fashion to create bursaries to support students in their study of the historical and contemporary practice of fashion.

For all Lulu’s fans – the lady of the hour herself will be working in the store on Monday February 8th, with a host of celebrity friends to celebrate the opening so make sure you get down there, as not only will you get your hands on a highly sought after ‘Lips’ clutch, but you may even be lucky enough to be served and get it signed by the designer herself.

Monday 8th February – Monday 22nd February 2010
Free Entry
65 - 67 BROADWICK STREET, LONDON W1 9QU