A Dash for Fashion and Art

The fashion elite was out in force last Wednesday night for the private view of work in progress by the MA students at the Royal College of Art. Wandering around for only a few minutes you could not help but be drawn into the melee of excitement surrounding these young artists. The evening was entitled: Fashion; Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork & Jewellery; Painting; Sculpture; Textiles ensuring that there was lots on offer for a visitor to the exhibition.

It was clear from the multitude of exhibits (there were designs ranging from intricate bags to canvas boots) that you were part of the first few to witness the creative talent of the future. I was particularly drawn to a cream denim jacket with a blue fur trim hood and multi-coloured flowers emblazoned around the arm sleeves. The creator, Alex Mullins, had made this piece for a Menswear collection. I believe this item could be worn by both men and women as it appeared to be a cover up that would be extremely wearable. The jacket included a drawstring toggle feature at the bottom and encompassed the comeback of the denim jacket this season.

Royal College of Art Image

The evening focused on celebrating the talents of the artists in the most innovative of mediums. A screen played a video of the students discussing the process of how their ideas came to fruition. Another interesting use of technology was the use of three televisions stacked on top of each other that showed the three sections of a model wearing a luminous jacket. It was a delight to see how the students came up with ingenious ways to display their work in an entertaining way. At one point, two women walked through the exhibition in identical swimsuits, soaked to the skin. To catch a glimpse of the work at the Royal College of Art, the exhibition is running from 12-18 January. For this exhibition expect the wonder of the unexpected.

Caroline Barnes

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