GSA 2015 Fashion Show

As an independent retailer Fat Buddha Store are delighted to be one of the key sponsors of the Glasgow School of Art fashion show supporting new and emerging talent in our home city.

This week at the Art School over 40 budding and emerging designers exhibited their collections inspired by a range of non-Eurocentric traditions on a catwalk set created by a Fashion and Textiles design team in partnership with 3rd year Architecture students. As one of the key corporate sponsors along with Dr Martens and Mandors we were delighted to be at the fashion show to witness a new generation of design talent.

Each designer created three looks inspired by world dress and various global textile traditions to examine cultural fashion conventions. Inspiration was drawn from  an eclectic mix of sources raging from "paintings of the Mbuti tribe of the DRC, the Inuit of Nunavik, Chinese porcelain, Japanese Samurais, Ethiopian Body Art, Syrian Style and Peruvian textiles."

Jimmy Stephen-Cran, Head of Fashion and Textiles at the GSA, had this to say "Adopting elements of different cultures is perfectly natural when designing. However, we expect our students to recognise the difference between ‘imitation’ and ‘inspiration.”

“This theme requires considered and respectful research to ensure that the end results are innovative and creative enough not to rely on cheap mimicry. The students have very much risen to this challenge.”

“The reality of a designer’s life is that ‘designing’ is only ever one aspect of what they do,” adds Stephen-Cran. “The annual GSA Fashion Show testifies to this. As well as allowing 3rd Year students the opportunity to explore and test the fashion potential of their ideas ‘full scale’, the organization and production of the show is also entirely their responsibility. This can be daunting task as for many of the young designers it is the first time their individual and collective efforts are open to public scrutiny.”

Kathryn McKerral's pieces (designs pictured top left) featured layered knits inspired by the traditional dress of the Republic of Armenia by playing about with fluid shapes and colour palette inspired by their national fruits of pomegranates and grapes.  While embroidery student Sheryll Goh (designs pictured top right) dresses took inspiration from the masquerade costumes of West African villages.

Ashleigh Miller's unisex collection (designs pictured top left) draw on traditional garments of Turkey with particular focus on the Ottoman Empire era and saw expansive silhouettes, ample laying and a tonal colour palette to modernise the look. Fashion design student Fiona Smith (designs pictured top right) took her cues from the Bedouin tribes of the middle east and showcased heavy drapes of thick fabric and canvas rope.

Norwegian student Karoline Hermanssen (designs pictured top left) also used Africa as her source, namely the Ndebele tribe, and showcased bold oversized shapes and vibrant colours. Caitlin Brown, who studies Embroidery, took here inspiration (designs pictured top right) from Native American culture with her designs making use of fringing detail and intricate texturing.

Undergraduate Weave Student Niamh Brannan (designs pictured top left) explored the use of materials to showcase designs inspired by traditional masquerades across Africa. While Print student Rosie Munro took her inspirations from the other side of the world namely Japan with bold geometric patterns.

It was a privilege to witness such new talent and here at Fat Buddha Store we are glad to have helped emerging young designers flourish and look forward to long and fruitful relationship with the Glasgow School of Art in the future.