This season, three Graduate Fashion Week Alumni, Claire Tagg, Amy Thomson and Maddie Williams, showcased their AW18 collections at Fashion Scout during London Fashion Week.
Claire Tagg has established herself as highly skilled in the creation of garments that are primarily print based, with a rich textural feel and elaborate embellishment. Graduating from The University of the Creative Arts with a 1st class honours, Claire went on to win ‘The New Designers Hainsworth Statement Award’! For her AW18 collection Claire continued to explore her fascination with glamour, combined with her journey of travelling and illustrations, through her collection.
Claire Tagg presented a collection filled with her dramatic, oriental inspired fauna and flora collection consisting of 8 looks. The collection combines glamour and destruction representing the opulence she encountered through her travels.
The collection is primarily print based with rich textures, detailed drawings and elaborate embellishment. Each garment is heavily beaded by hand to illustrate the glamour that goes against the ripping of the illustrated textures. The hand beading created a unique feel to each garment, presenting it with the element of couture.
Maddie Williams’ AW18 collection eloquently explores social, political and environmental issues in today’s world, with conceptual and striking designs.
After graduating from the University of Edinburgh last year, Maddie went on to win two awards at Fashion Scout’s Graduate Fashion Week: the Catwalk Textiles Award and the coveted Dame Vivienne Westwood Ethical Award. Her continued enthusiasm to construct fun and avant-garde eco fashion has, once again, captivated everyone watching.
Maddie’s collection combines modern, youthful style with non-conformist materials. She showed us bubble skirts embellished with ruffled and frayed plastic stripes and transparent plastic bomber jackets filled with strips of plastic and wool. Williams’ designs also uncover a more socio-political meaning through the experimentation with proportion. She gives us highly structured and exaggerated silhouettes, inspired by ancient fertility figures which glorify the form of the female body.
Maddie William’s continued devotion to using fashion as a conduit for raising awareness of socio-political and environmental topics has certainly caught the attention of the fashion industry, and this collection cements her place as a pioneer in this field.
For AW18 Amy Thomson brings us the magical, playful and pink “chasin’ dreams” collection merging fashion and illustration. A lover of pinks heaven, the rich combination of texture and larger-than- life silhouettes.
The collection is made up of 8 looks bringing to life the idea of focusing on dreams of what you aspire to be when you are older. Inspiring people to never give up on their dreams. Each look in this collection forms a character based on a profession from a child’s perspective of the role. Metallic based textures create a sparkling performance. Feminine silhouettes, with giant bow ties and illustrative frills create a silk slumber party feel. The use of silks, faux fur and leathers using a palette of fuchsias, baby pink, hot pink that contrast with the royal blues and lilacs. Illustrations upon metallic fabric are layered and stitched on the faux fur.
Photography by Nicholas Kristiansen