Cover: Student Designers about who they covered

Here is – in celebration of London College of Fashion’s BA14 fashion show from last Thursday,19 June – a selection of five young designers who talk about their top designer of this season.

Charlotte Knowles (Womenswear)

Luke Bullen and Jana Dahmen (Womenswear)

Laura Needle (Womenswear), Sophie Ellis-Hayle (Knitwear) and Charlotte Bright (Bags)

Fiona Barnes, Lauren Pilgreen (Womenswear) and Nicole Paskauskas (Headpieces)

Marco Storm Braskov (Menswear) and Hattie Buzzard (Knitwear)

CHARLOTTE KNOWLES – HARDY AMIES

Hardy Amies Menswear collection encompassed a balmy, West coast feel combined with a cool 70’s vibe. Slithers of dense pattern emerging from beneath narrow, sloping jackets, paired with fitted trousers. I really liked the light, pastel colour palette and the cropped lengths of the jackets and cuffs lifted the somewhat ‘traditional’ collection, which added youth. Mehmet Ali (director at Hardy Amies) has always been an inspirational Menswear designer to me; right from his graduate collection in 2009. His sensitive use of colour and application of detail are what inspires me.

LUKE BULLEN – J.W. ANDERSON

J.W. Anderson’s collection was my favourite of the London shows as I found it was very smartly pushing the boundaries of menswear in a sometimes subtle and at other times more obvious way by playing with different cuts, lengths and necklines which blur the lines between masculinity and femininity and all these creations are tied in by an interesting mix of textures and fabrics bouncing between subdued tones and also vibrant very fresh and thus modern colours. This collection is influential to me as a designer as I’m very impressed by J.W Anderson’s ability to challenge what menswear is and should look like just by adding small twists to traditional pieces, pushing these boundaries enough to create something interesting and new and not blurring the lines between women’s and men’s wear too such an extreme that it loses all credit as a menswear collection and thus just would come across as and would be discredited as merely shock fashion.

LAURA NEEDLE – AGI & SAM MENSWEAR S/S 15As an up-coming designer I appreciate this collection for its clean aesthetic and the oversized yet classical silhouette. The use of layering aprons, like skirts, over shorts and flared trousers highlights its striking composition through the consideration of length in the layers and a balance of oversized masculine line. Spring /Summer 2015 enhances its masculine clean line with confident colour to distract from feminine influences seen throughout a range of Menswear collections this season.

NICOLE PASKAUSAS – KIT NEALE
I helped Kit Neale with his collection, so this has to be my favourite and most influential show from LCM. I love the way in which he translates his holiday experience into fun and exciting prints and I also found his attention to detail and finishings really beautiful. You can really see his personality within the collection – which I think is a really important part of being a strong designer.