My visits to Graduate Fashion Week which
concludes today in a big bash Gala type thing,
have been irregular and a little on the lazy
side I'm afraid. Catwalk Queen has a much
better grasp on all thingS GFW than myself
so head on over there if you want all the details.
However trom what I did see at the shows and
at the exhibition, it seems leather is everywhere.
Fashion students can't seem to get enough of the
stuff and it's setting the wheels turning in my own
head about my relationship with leather. Save
for some pencil skirts, a cropped All Saints jacket
which I barely touch, I'm pretty un-leathered
when it comes to garments. I'm interested in
leather as a pliable material and rather than
buying into the normal garments you expect them
to come in; fitted/bomber jackets, pencil skirts
and even trousers, I'd love to see babydoll/
trapeze dresses, caped/cocoon jackets and coats
and even baggy wide cuffed shorts in various
leather finishes and textures. Basically, what
I mean is to use leather on unexpected garment
shapes. Thus making leather all the more wearable
for me. A prime example would be this navy
leather jacket with huge kimono sleeves designed
by Alyssia Burridge from the University of
Westminster.
We don't have to necessarily associate leather
with 'bondage', 'toughness' and 'bikers' if we use
it in a different way. We shall see whether the
new season yields better things for me to start
a beautiful relationship with leather.
Alyssia Burridge - Westminster
Bronaugh Holmes - Westminster
Geannine Pollazzon - East London // Rachael Barrett - Edinburgh // Li Xia Wang - Central Lancashire
