CSM White Show; Beaded tights – DIY

Question, what would you do with 2 metres of felt and cotton? My first DIY instinct would tell me to lay the felt sheet flat on the floor, then lie down and the pull the cotton sheet on as blanket. OK, that’s probably the flu residue talking. This CSM White Show was the end product of this equation= [(2m felt + 2m cotton + 5 weeks) – sleep] x pixiedust. Every year, First Year CSM Fashion Design students collaborate with its own Fashion Communication students to put on a full-scale runway show. I’d agreed to ‘model’ for Emily this time, and therefore got tossed into this lovely mess. 150 models, or should we say ‘doing-friend-a-favour’ models, had to accept there were to be only one bagel and banana per person throughout the 5 hour wait, and those unlucky few had to remain standing in heels due to the fragile construction of the dress. I’m not complaining (much), when would I ever experience a strut down any runway? It was an educational experience, if not fun.

Emily’s design was inspired by a story of two lovers who forcefully disunite as one passes away in a field of mushrooms. Hence, the design is derived by the shape of mushrooms. Check out more illustration on her blog.

Thank you for your well-wishes, I’m much much better now xx

CSM BA Fashion Design Group project; Black heels by Office; FDM – Hester Kitchen, Victoria Kwong; Fashion Print – Catherine Gertner, Paula Kim; Fashion Knit – Hye Sun Choi, Gyu Won Do , FCP – Marcella Saads, Derek Ho;

Don’t look at me, I have no idea how I ended up ‘modelling’ (used in the loosest form possible – if I’m a model, a pillow would be one too) either – clearly Gyu was desperate. Remember Gyu, the CSM knitwear student I visited in June? Time flies! I’ve known her since before Foundation and now this is her collaboration project in her Second Year (with BA Fashion Communication, BA Fashion Print & BA Fashion Design students). The inspiration for the pieces was the myriad that is the CSM Charing Cross campus, and a story of a new girl getting lost. This girl, Ariadne, finds a red thread that leads her to a mysterious room and ends up living there for the rest of her life. The ‘red thread’ refers to the colour of the corridor floors. The patterns and prints are based on photomanipulated images of the room (actually exists apparently), notably the carpet, and the ‘face’ of Ariadne.

Usually I find that students’ garments incredibly fragile but the knit, print, and panelling skills on the four outfits were impeccable – sophisticated enough to go straight to market. Being around the team through the fitting, photoshoots, last alterations and the line-up at the final crit I really really got to experience how much work goes into a collection, not to mention team tension and shared responsibilities… They basically created a brand – tags, website, press release, packaging…the whole shebang… in about 5 weeks. Now I want to study again, this time properly.

Disclaimer: there is no mad old lady, living in a room in the CSM Charing Cross building.

B’s Barbie bash

Beautiful illustrations by Jianhui Li

Leonie Cicirello ‘Mind my mind’ project on depression & suicide

‘Phonebook’

Advertising pathway’s in-show icecream (free!) van

My schtuff (look away!)

Ellen‘s ribbon typeface & papercut cities

More photos available here; Show online catalogue; Thanks Ellen for all the photos of moi!

This is what I’ve been up to the past week or so, getting 3 hours of sleep and drilling more holes in one 2m-wide wall than I’ve ever had to in an entire room. Well, I didn’t do the drilling, the last time I drilled a hole it got big enough not to need the shelf, Ellen‘s brother Dan had to lend his paws and whiskers (thanks Meow!). I may seem adept at DIY, but unless I’m drilling a shoe (why?), I’m completely useless.
Considering the nature of student cohesion at our course (little to none), this show was the epitome of combined effort; hey, I even made new friends! By new friends, I mean speaking to some vaguely familiar face for the first time in 3 years – how does one ask for their names after this long? Very happy how this all turned out, a good solid period to the end of our BA Graphic Design chapter.

The show is still on for the public until 4pm Monday for those who would like to pop by, we’re even open on Sunday! More details here.