Graduate Fashion Foundation is excited to announce it will be returning to London Fashion Week in the British Fashion Council’s Positive Fashion Exhibition with a second season of the ‘GFW Presents’ stand from Friday 14th – Sunday 16th February 2020. Located at The Store X, 180 Strand, London Fashion Week will be the first of the four global Fashion Week’s to embrace inclusivity, opening the doors to both trade and the public to join a celebration of fashion’s creativity, community and diversity.
GFW Presents will showcase the work of four talented Graduate Fashion Week 2019 alumni, whose collections were part of the Best of GFW Top 28 Collection show. Designed by Graduate Fashion Foundation to help graduates launch their brand to a global audience, develop relationships with renowned global stores and network, GFW Presents showcases 4 graduates who are working to change industry’s practices.
Yen Wong – Graduate of Brighton University
Yen Wong is originally from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Her womenswear practice draws inspiration from her love of craft, exploring elements and techniques from couture and tailoring, as well as her fascination of heritage and culture. Yen plays heavily with irony, using humour to playfully discuss matters of womanhood. Her collection, SUNNY SIDE UP! focusses on the combination of intricate techniques mixed with a hint of kitsch.
The collection has a playful tone, exploring the perfect 1950s woman and the social pressures placed upon women, leading to a manic episode. Using classic couture silhouettes from that time period as inspiration, Yen also touches upon her own personal heritage, juxtaposing elements from her Malaysian-Chinese background alongside the heavily westernised perspective of the 50s woman.
Leo John Caligan – Graduate of School of Fashion at Manchester Metropolitan University
Leo John Caligan is a Fashion & Textile Designer from Manchester, offering alternative androgynous designs by exploring the westernisation and domestication of the Philippines though traditional crafts alongside modern hand rendered textiles and graphic silhouettes. Creating unique prints and embroidery, Leo’s work has a heavy influence of his filipino heritage combined with his upbringing as an Asian immigrant in UK.
‘Las Sala De Filipinas’ researches the evolution of the Filipino culture by investigating the interiors and exteriors of post-Spanish colony houses. Leo used furniture to influence the silhouettes for his designs with creative pattern cutting based on sofa covers, combined with military wear and the national costumes of the Philippines. Leo use a mixture of natural materials, delving into old and damaged upholstery leather that would end up in landfills, combined with abaca (banana fibre) and piña (pineapple fibre) which are handwoven materials traditionally used to make the national costume of the Philippines.
Africa Hernandez Martinez – Graduate of University of Creative Arts Epsom
Africa Hernandez, a womenswear designer born and raised in Spain is interested in preserving traditional crafts and colourful customs as part of cultural heritage, as well as moving them forward into the modern world. With an interested in learning from other cultures, she wanted to share the pagan festivities and traditions of Spain with other communities through her work to embrace and experience ‘Otherness’.
Her design philosophy reflects her research into sustainable practices, including sourcing second-hand fabrics, along with textile developments based on the reinterpretation and manipulation of ancient techniques. The collection’s upcycled fabrics are sourced from car boot sales around Spain and her family home, where she found vintage brocade tablecloths, duvet covers and bed throws. Materials includes Piñatex, a sustainable replacement for leather made from the leaves of pineapples, and some of the craft techniques are aimed at small handmade production run by women in her neighbourhood.
Sarah Thompson – Graduate of Sheffield Hallam University
“The rural north east is who I owe my creativity too, the community around me, the rolling hills, the freedom of thought and naïve ways. As a young designer, I can’t wait for a future of travel, learning and being inspired by cultures, but forever my roots and my beginnings will carry me through. My collection explores the relationship the British farming community have to their clothing; the value they place upon practical attire and attachments they gain. Growing up within the remote north Yorkshire moors, clothing focused on practicality, durability, and the ability to mend. This cycle of deconstruction and mending has helped form the signature design aesthetic this collection has explored. Through family remnant clothing, I have been able to deconstruct, mend and reform into new pieces. Raising awareness of this technique, to establish a silhouette that celebrates incisions and scars that have years of history, love and wear. I want to make build the relationships back between garment and owner.”
