Photography by Magdalene Golembiewska |
Illustration by Andy Bumpus |
Coffee, late nights and sleeping with the light on. That was
the recipe recent Westminster Fashion BA graduate Parsha Gerayesh prescribed me
for success, and it obviously worked for him. His heavily structured steam bent wooden
creations were a main attraction, bound similarly to oversized embroidery
hoops, almost a la Claes Oldenburg except moulded to the body. “They can be
worn in more than one way”, says Gerayesh; the Graduate Fashion Week Innovation
award winner, who after many a trial and error session settled on beech for its
durable properties.
Currently one month into his three month placement at Karen
Millen; Parsha is aiming to hone his commercial skills before going it alone.
However this is not the first placement he has undertaken; stints at menswear designer Aitor
Throup and Peter Jensen during his studies he said were invaluable to his
education. 'Learn to love coffee and sleep with music blaring and the lights
on. You will wake up feeling like you never went to sleep but ready for a new day'.
I'm still dubious but am willing to give it a try!
Posed the question; “So where do you see yourself in 10
years time”, like many of the other young designers his answer went along the
lines of 'running my own label in London', but he also went a step further. 'I
want a cross disciplinary design lab...London, Paris...' and after meeting and
getting to know Parsha, I can safely predict one day the world. We here at VFS
expect big things from this hotbed of enthusiasm.
Text: Madeleine Ayers