I came home from Graduate Fashion Week laden down with various paraphenalia picked up during the course of day three of the event. I am now proud owner of a new perfume, a toothbrush, a sketchbook, a calico bag (yet another!), Jelly Belly beans (yum!), and various magazines and brochures. All of this is exciting material, but I can't help think that all the money spent should be injected more directly into supporting the teaching and content of the courses; while, to play devil's advocate, the other part of me know how important it is that the courses and their students are marketed as innovatively as possible, especially in this era of excess information. Speaking of which, I found fame in the GFW Daily - as am featured in the vox pop section for the Tuesday edition...!
The hitherto secret international designer joining the GFW judging panel is Julien Macdonald; it will be interesting to see how his input into the process affects the outcome of the Gala Awards, taking place tonight. I have a golden ticket so will let you know all tomorrow. Perhaps he is scouting for fresh talent for his own label, given that late last year he signed a big business deal with a new backer?
I bumped into my cousin, who is cycling aficionado extraordinaire and has her own fashion label for biking fashionistas, Cyclodelic. She was at GFW scouting for graduating designers who might be fellow fans of the bike and of fashion, and interested in cycling catwalk show she's planning for later this year, following the success of the Wheels and Heels, which took place during the last LFW, and which she worked on. It's all still early stages, but she has big plans for the event and no doubt will pull them off - I certainly hope to be reporting updates here on Fashion Popcorn!!
I very unfortunately missed Liverpool John Moores and Birmingham City University's joint show, but the reports were very favourable and those who did make it in were impressed by the collections that were showcased; certainly what I could see through the door window looked interesting. Both are working on raising their profile so no doubt we will see something of an evolution over the next few years. I made it to each of the further shows, so all in all have managed seven shows in the past two days - a respectable third of all shows which (in my mind!) makes me well qualified to have an opinion on the event.
Showing posts with label GFW Daily. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GFW Daily. Show all posts
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Sarah Brown pops into Graduate Fashion Week
As I blogged yesterday, Graduate Fashion Week holds a special place in my heart (in a non-schmaltzy way, you understand!), and so I rocked up to day two of this year's event to see how it was settling into its new home, Earls Court 2.
I arrived just ten minutes before Sarah Brown, wife of Gordon, was scheduled for a photocall; she attended at least one catwalk show - saw her presented with a handmade, lace bouquet at the end of Somerset's - and did a walk about. I am guessing that it may have had something to do with the government's drive to encourage skills in the fashion industry, but equally she does a lot of charitable work so it could have been something to do with that... maybe I should have been a bit more inquisitive! Will be looking out for more unexpected visitors over the course of the next two days...
The event's main sponsor, to the tune of about £500k, is River Island, which was coming to the end of its current contract this year - I was pleased to hear that they've confirmed at least a further year's sponsorship for GFW, as this kind of support is absolutely vital for the continuation of the event. I was also interested to note that Sarah Walters, who as brand manager at New Look had helped move the brand past value retailer to fashion player, is now with River Island and has been for the past six months; it suggests that there may be some interesting initiatives in the pipeline from RI, so will be watching closely...
Having been held in Battersea Park Arena for the last few years, GFW had been a little difficult to get to, although the location did mitigate for some of this, and the tents erred to the sweltering, over-crowded side. As Earls Court 2 is a massive hangar style space the layout and feel of the event was very different indeed - it was a Marmite issue - some loved the better layout of stands, additional space, the air con, and the convenient location; others liked the intimacy of the former location, the park. I think, on balance that most felt it an improvement, and that's a tricky one to achieve with so many people to please.
I made it to three shows: Somerset, Northampton, Westminster. UCCA Epsom is actually today, so that one's for later. It is interesting watching the common themes which crop up across all shows, but some are executed so stylishly, some are great, but still need some extra push to take it to the next level. I am going to be checking out the GFW Daily, both for the reports and also because had my piccie taken by the Editor, Piers, so might make an appearance - fame at last!
I arrived just ten minutes before Sarah Brown, wife of Gordon, was scheduled for a photocall; she attended at least one catwalk show - saw her presented with a handmade, lace bouquet at the end of Somerset's - and did a walk about. I am guessing that it may have had something to do with the government's drive to encourage skills in the fashion industry, but equally she does a lot of charitable work so it could have been something to do with that... maybe I should have been a bit more inquisitive! Will be looking out for more unexpected visitors over the course of the next two days...
The event's main sponsor, to the tune of about £500k, is River Island, which was coming to the end of its current contract this year - I was pleased to hear that they've confirmed at least a further year's sponsorship for GFW, as this kind of support is absolutely vital for the continuation of the event. I was also interested to note that Sarah Walters, who as brand manager at New Look had helped move the brand past value retailer to fashion player, is now with River Island and has been for the past six months; it suggests that there may be some interesting initiatives in the pipeline from RI, so will be watching closely...
Having been held in Battersea Park Arena for the last few years, GFW had been a little difficult to get to, although the location did mitigate for some of this, and the tents erred to the sweltering, over-crowded side. As Earls Court 2 is a massive hangar style space the layout and feel of the event was very different indeed - it was a Marmite issue - some loved the better layout of stands, additional space, the air con, and the convenient location; others liked the intimacy of the former location, the park. I think, on balance that most felt it an improvement, and that's a tricky one to achieve with so many people to please.
I made it to three shows: Somerset, Northampton, Westminster. UCCA Epsom is actually today, so that one's for later. It is interesting watching the common themes which crop up across all shows, but some are executed so stylishly, some are great, but still need some extra push to take it to the next level. I am going to be checking out the GFW Daily, both for the reports and also because had my piccie taken by the Editor, Piers, so might make an appearance - fame at last!
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