Central Saint Martins BA Graduate Fashion Show 2011

Central Saint Martins is the college of fashion par excellence. From its building in Charing Cross Road and other detachments in central London, many of the most famous designers have studied and became the stars of the catwalks around the world. Names like Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen and Sarah Burton, designer of Catherine Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding dress, were all students at this prestigious school of art.

Established more than 150 years ago, Central Saint Martins will move to its new location in King’s Cross leaving the premises in Charing Cross Road where it has been since 1939 in order to have more space and being all together instead of having six sites scattered across central London. At the beginning nostalgic students will miss the charm of the old buildings, some dated more then a century, but at the end it will be an advantage to have all the teachers and all the laboratories needed grouped under on roof.

Every year the BA Fashion degree is held at York Hall in Bethnal Green, a famous venue for boxing matches. This year 45 fashion students sent on the catwalk their creations after been picked up over 200 candidates.

Before the show started a black and white film has been shown to the press and fashion pack highlighting the golden moments of this college, showing footages of ex alumni from the Thirties and recent times. Pictures of catwalks, sketches of dresses become iconic; all this has been mixed and put together to remember a period lasted more than 70 years.

The show introduced these young designers that with their works had the chance to enter the fashion world with a good start.

Styles differed depending on the ethnicity of the students with Asian influences and a look to the past. In an industry where it is important to be remembered few students pulled off a trick or two, like Josh Bullen that with his underwear collection sent on the catwalk Louis Vuitton’s model Daisy Lowe. Toma Stenko had his models dressed up like Venusians ladies, covered in a blue mask. Momo Wang sent on the runway cheerful models, hair in a pigtails held it with balloons, while dancing following a nursery rhyme.

Kim Traegar had her models’s faces covered in a disturbing bunny mask and of course some of the outfits had a distinctive political message from peace in the world to environment related topics and a final homage to Central Saint Martins’s closure in Charing Cross.

The highlight of the evening has been the awards introduced by the Master of Ceremony Hilary Alexander, fashion editor of the Daily Telegraph, given to the students by Sarah Burton. The first runner up prize went to Nicholas Aburn for his women’s wear collection, menswear designer Ivan Curia Nunes and the aforesaid Momo Wang shared the second runner up award. Winner of the L’Oreal Professionel Young Talent of the Year has been Italian Flaminia Saccucci, a print graduate with her collection of rubber dresses and trousers hand painted with flowers and geometrical graphics. Among the judges were Christopher Kane, another ex CSM alumni, Craig Lawrence and Carola Long deputy fashion editor at the Financial Times.

These young designers are now projected in the world, many of them probably recruited by the big fashion houses and who knows one or more of them might be the next Alexander McQueen or the Stella McCartney of the future. In an industry like fashion that is a strong presence in the British economy, an injection of new talents every year, will just confirm the style and the quirkiness of the English fashion putting it firmly on the map for one of the most important Fashion Week of the world.

photo Crisitna polizzi italoeuropeo