That’s a wrap of the GFF x TikTok Residency which has taken over Fashion Enter in London for the last two weeks! We had a new group of graduates from around the country here this week to create merchandise for TikTok, taking inspiration from their final major projects as well as the TikTok ethos and vibe of the platform. We even had GFF President, Hilary Alexander OBE and GFF Ambassador Henry Holland drop by to check out their final products and hear about their time on the residency.
“I’m so blown away and impressed by what the graduates have achieved this week,” said Henry. “They’ve done their own prints, they’ve made up to 10 garments, one girl made 25 bags and the tenacity and the drive of these young people is insane. I’m really impressed.” Students have spent the week learning how to translate their designs into pieces for commercial manufacturing, as well as pattern cutting, CAD drawing and grading. Their work will be sent out to TikTok influencers and VIP clients to wear!
“This week, I made an oversized shirt this week that is printed with TikTok dancers, it’s an illustration that I did which is on a black satin shirt,” said graduate Leah Holmes from Edinburgh College of Art. “I learnt all about 3D CAD design and how to quickly change your patterns, as well as the industry and manufacturing, which is really good to know for the future if I ever start my own brand.”
Hilary Alexander OBE was on hand to learn more about the work and the challenges they faced making garments in 5 days. ““I’m incredibly impressed with the standards and the variety of designs and although in some cases they used to logo or the colours, it’s not typical logo merchandise, it’s more the spirit of TikTok,” she said. “ It’s really inspiring and I’m so thrilled we’ve been able to bring TikTok and our graduates together in this amazing project. TikTok is fun, it’s about youth, dancing and being happy and all of those things have been reflected in the clothes, what’s not to like?”
“I made a hoodie this week,” said Tamsin Lines from the University of Leeds. “I used neoprene for the first time and it taught me a lot of lessons in terms of working with it. It was quite hard to make my initial design so I had to change and adapt it — that’s something I'll take into what I do next, to experiment more before I go straight into it.”
It’s been an amazing second week of the TikTok residency and we’re so grateful to the team from TikTok, Fashion Enter, our ambassador Henry Holland, Hilary Alexander and everyone who has been involved with making the residency such a success for our graduates. Thank you! Below, check out all the pieces reated this week by our graduates.
