New Fashion: Interventions in Materials and Techniques

New Fashion: Interventions in Materials and Techniques was the first of two exhibitions at Fashion Space Gallery devoted to emerging talent across the disciplines of fashion design and illustration. The series showcased makers who, though not yet widely known, are some of the most outstanding of their generation. By presenting the work of eight emerging fashion labels, this exhibition explored a number of ways in which young designers are pushing boundaries in the creation of contemporary womenswear.

The exhibition featured design duo Fyodor Golan, who have been described by Roland Mouret as being ‘unique and stubborn’ and whose unique couture-level creations won them the prestigious Fashion Fringe Award in 2012; LCF MA Fashion Artefact graduate Úna Burke, whose visually captivating and technically challenging leather designs have received widespread critical acclaim; Chi Chi Luo, also a recent graduate from LCF, who was hailed as ‘one to watch’ by Vogue.com and Italian Vogue; Felicity Brown, who uses intensive techniques of fabric manipulation, layering and deconstruction to create elegant and original designs; Central Saint Martin’s graduate Derek Lawlor, whose work is distinguished by incredibly detailed knowledge, application of materials and unique cord-working technique; Eleanor Amoroso, who produces high-fashion looks through the ancient art of macramé;

Nicola Morgan, whose 2011 graduation collection incorporates cutting-edge 3D-printing technology directly into soft tailored silhouettes and who has won awards including both British Design Council New Designer of the Year and the Graduate Fashion Week Innovation Award in 2009; and Zyanya Keizer, who launched her label last year at Amsterdam International Fashion Week and is distinguished for her intensive bead-work construction, which she applies both to elaborate decorative patterns and remarkable three-dimensional shapes.

The exhibition also included commissioned masks by costume designer Helen Woolfenden, based on a collection of antique microscopic slices of plant, mineral and insect material, collected and printed on silk by London artist Graz Darken (Slices London).

Images © Fashion Space Gallery.