Graduate Fashion Week June 2010 – Northumbria University

Naomi New’s collection was a brilliant show starter, it set a high quality standard for the rest of the show.She presented 70’s inspired ,white leather and tasseled creations,one strongly suggested elements of Elvis in his later years.All pieces in her collection were outstanding to the finest detail.There was a highly futuristic appeal to the collection with lashings of studded leather.One model even feautured a fabulous dress with structured shoulders,of black leather and the main dress was innovatively made from hair.This created a fabulous contrast compared to the hardness of leather,the hair was soft and fluid swishing and catching the light with every stride.

Gemma Williams’s collection added a real sence of class and urban elegance ot the show.A pillarbox red jumpsuit started her collection with gold embellished neck and wrist bands,each bead framed the red chiffon perfectly.A interesting point to make on Gemma Williamson’s collection was that it combined many different elements of inspirations,showing us her many talents all at once.One piece was a knee length smock of satine fabric ,chaoticaly printed all over in a explosion of colour with added gold detailing on the torso.The final piece in her collection was to be a stunning cobalt ,trench style coat with feathers ,embellished motives and printed panneling creating an overall ,stiking creation.

Stacy Beggs presented the typically masculine figure throughout her collection.She used colours such as , beige and brown and heavy fabrics of leather and denim.Her use of leather and denim together created a quirky Dungarees causing the model to swagger in a laddish way.She also created a tradtional waistcoat but combined it with a contempory geometic pattern printed onto a satine fabric.The overall impression that Stacy Beggs was creating in this collectin, was a country boy meets city man ,exposing the models to both styles.

Samantha Probert demonstrated dark sophistication throughout her collection.Her use of midnight blue and jet back created an imposing full circle skirt with a roped bodice almost becoming a necklace or some form of extreme jewelery.There were also strong military influences in many pieces.Strong shoulder embellishments on blazers and a Roman style helmet with a bristle like fringe are all hints to this inspiration.

Naomi Grunge’s collection brings an 80’s grunge look to the catwalk. The dresses were skin tight and thigh skimming with added shoulder detail, this was made up of blondehair, studs and stones. The contrast of fabrics increased the impact of the dresses. Other pieces looked heavily armoured and referred to designs by Gareth Pugh, and the glamour referred to pieces by D and G. Her collection looked as if it could be designed for Lady Gaga.

Julie Perry produced a cage like collection, with her monochrome colour scheme, it created edge and fierceness. Metallics were subtley injected into particular dressed to create a sexy silhoette. Belts were drapped all over the body creating a structured physique. Soft sheer fabrics and satins were included, these were contrasted against the whole image producing an edgy subtle collection.

Nathalie Murray’s 60’s siren collection produced intensifying shift dresses. There was an almost oriental theme flowing through the collection as gold was printed onto the outfits in small areas. The crazy arrangement of fabrics and colours was very eyecatching but worked well as a whole with some areas pleated and some areas embellished it contrasted beautifully. Knitwear was also a factor in the collection, having whole jumpsuits matched with long cardigans out of it was certainly different.

Stephenie Price created geometric metallic dresses which looked as if they were cut up and sewn back together in a different order, which visually looked very structured. She then contrasted it with softly drapped dress with and underlying structure beneath. This dress was beautifully ironic, the contrast of fabrics made it stand out with it’s use of opposite pattern direction, it made the outfit come together as one. Other pieces were mainly very architectual and futuristic with it’s white and grey palette and using mesh over the top to highlight the figure.

Hannah C-S had a playful liberian feel, it represented a very chic and quirky look. Using the tan colours against the white cropped tee gave it a cute vintage feel. The mustard yellow outfit gave reminants of the 60’s as pleats were used in skirts and oversized coats were matched with it. This collection as a whole was particularly current as vintage is always a hit and all those cool kids are going back into the past recreating the looks which is what Hannah does in her collection really well.

Ludmilla Maida had an oriental theme in her collection with small details such as bells added to the shoes, her vivid imagination was definitely captured. Splashes of flourescent colours were added to make it that more exciting. Dresses flowed however the top section of the dress would be very structured. (Don’t know what else to say was just a bit metal like being on acid)

Rosie Sugden lingerie was classic and elegant all at the same time. She reproduced the 1950’s look beautifully using knitwear in areas to make it her own. The peach and the grey as a colour palette worked great together as they portray a girly image but the shapes and silhouttes created were sexy which are two very hard visions to put together at once. She styled the outfits well as she merged the lingerie with cardigans to make them more casual, adding subtle embellishments in soft silver across the back. This was a beautifully done collection.

Words : Bethan

Images : Hayley