COLLECTION | Lulu Liu

Chinese designer Lulu Liu opened the shows at Freemason's Hall this morning with a collection that was equal parts fresh and retro. Taking inspiration from the phrase "Play Design", Liu's collection explored "the line that is walked between self-actualisation and self-restraint."

As the house lights went up, Liu revealed a collection that was full of basic a-line silhouettes in the form of culottes, drapey tops, pencil skirts, capes and trench coats. The twist came in the form of the zips that deconstructed skirts, coats, tops and dresses at the waist, hem, sleeves and thigh-to creates slits. Added to this were bright flashes of maroon, and teal which accompanied the main colour palette of icy pastels including icy blue, mint and grey.

Lui's fabric choices also added to the dichotomy of the collection, showing woven leather swing-coats, snakeskin tops, tweed embellished with leather and woven camouflage.

The models who had strategically crimped hair-to appear untidy-and clean faces wore looks that were accessorised with ankle-strap booties and cat-eye sunglasses

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COLLECTION| FAD AW14

SingYu Chan & Yuan Tian

Petulia Galvin

Lucia Graham

Sarah Kilkenny

Johanna Wahlman

Benjamin Callery

Bryony Strange

Hattie Buckwell

Veronica Davies

Annie Oakes

Cat Potter

Alexandra Olivier

Rhiannon Flora Wakefield

Amy Crofts

Nobuyuki Matsui & Moe Takahashi

Amy Konig

Fashion Awareness Direct is a fashion awards show which gives design students from Universities across the country an opportunity to develop their creative talent as they design looks based on a brief from FAD to be shown on the Fashion Scout catwalk. The lucky winner, as judged by a jury of fashion industry creatives, gains a £1000 prize to go alongside their invaluable experience.

This season's brief was ‘Multisensory’, and here is what our young designers had to offer:

Joint design team SingYu Chan and Yuan Tian kicked things off in style with laddered, textured knits and splashes of vibrant orange tones. 

Petulia Galvin experimented with a straight silhouette and a contrasting colour palette of white and bright orange.

Lucia Graham showcased abstract prints in a space age styled designs with metallic panelling.

Sarah Kilkenny’s creations were soft and feminine with elements of structure, her use of a neutral colour palette added to the delicate nature of her designs.

Johanna Wahlman went for thick wool knits contrasted over simple silk dresses in grey tones.

Benjamin Callery’s fisherman inspired looks featured blanket knits, patent inserts and a splash of neon.

Bryony Strange was innovative with her approach to fabrics as she used a folding technique in her designs and experimented with shape and layering.

Hattie Buckwell took a geometric approach to the brief, using geometric shaped panelling to create a sort of optical illusion.

Veronica Davies chose oversized cuts and metallic elements to go with her pastel colour palette.

Cat Potter combined soft ruffled textures with heavily line patterning.

Annie Oakes explored void spaces and the concept of loss of sight, she used braille labelling as decorative features.

Amy Crofts went for a super bright colour palette with neon features and innovative tasseling in contrasting colour tones.

Rhiannon Flora Wakefield’s menswear designs featured heavy, oversized roll-neck knits and suit jackets with yellow and blue block colouring.

Alexandra Olivier went for an elegance approach with use of mesh and pastel tones throughout.

Joint design team Nobuyuki Matsui and Moe Takahashi’s menswear looks featured soft, classic textures and innovative cuts.

Finally, Amy Konig’s designs took to the catwalk with a bold approach which utilised monochrome throughout and featured draping fabrics.

In the aftermath of the show, Rhiannon Flora Wakefield was announced as the winner, with Benjamin Callery as runner-up and Nobuyuki Matsui and Moe Takashi awarded the Orly Tenzer Prize for Textiles.

By Charlotte Muscat (@CharlotteMuscatLM9)

Photography by Jamike-Latif (@JaimikeLatif)