Following a host of graduate shows that saw students from Central Saint Martins to London College of Fashion present their collections to the public, the University of Westminster MA menswear show took place during London Fashion Week Men’s on Monday. A first for the new two-year postgraduate course whose graduates have been taught by tutors including Charles Jeffrey and Liam Hodges, eight designers sent their collections down the runway at legendary London nightclub, Heaven.
Opening the show was Robyn Lynch, with a sporty knit-filled collection of monochrome looks. Paying tribute to her Irish heritage, the looks were hand-dyed in green, white, and orange just like the country’s flag. Maureen Kelly-Pain built her collection on memories and photographs of her brother’s childhood resulting in reassembled knitted cardigans, polos and jeans, while Louise Yinghan Liu explored functional outerwear garments and life-saving uniforms after her experience of flooding in China, aged six.
Elsewhere, Christine Shangqian Xu’s influence came from 90s techno music, with traditional tailoring deconstructed into sexy looks that combined snakeskin and silver chains as tops. With sustainability in mind, Priya Ahluwalia created a collection around re-worked, second-hand clothes that were patchworked together (read more about her collection here). With the 2018 graduate season nearing the end, keep an eye out for the Royal College of Art’s offering later this week.
