An unforgettable campus experience to greatly enhance occupation prospective customers for vogue students through the pandemic, has been possible thanks to visionaries at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU).
Even though Covid-19 deprived closing-yr students of critical alternatives to bodily showcase their models in entrance of field pros at nationwide gatherings, university staff worked tirelessly to rework The Location@DMU into an innovative catwalk environment in its place.
Pairing industrial components – these kinds of as scaffolding, translucent plastic sheeting and picket plinths – with intelligent lighting and projection procedures, they created a amazing structural surroundings for styles to stroll as a result of though showcasing scholar collections.
DMU teachers, professionals and events industry experts brought 3 independent sets to life and filmed 4 distinct catwalk shows more than a two-7 days period, providing Fashion Textile Style, Contour Fashion and Fashion Design students with precious visible material to share with possible employers.
The idea was the brainchild of Alan Beattie, programme leader for Style Textile Layout at DMU. He said: “Watching how style displays in Milan and Paris adapted during lockdown, I realised we had the house, tools and talent to produce something very similar for our college students on campus.
“We were in a position to include all college students, somewhat than a range which is expected for exterior shows, and we finished up with overall parity for all. So out of nothing came some thing for everyone.
“Students had no notion what their operate would glance like on designs and to see their patterns in movement just introduced everything to daily life for them. It was pleasant to see smiles on their faces soon after what has most likely been the hardest 12 months of their life. That was the very best bit and that’s why we do it.”
Style Textile Style and design student Penny Kowalkowski experienced the prospect to showcase her zero-squander womenswear knit collection, which brings together structured and drapey components to suit the form.
The 22-12 months-previous from Stoke-on-Trent explained: “It’s been a huge benefit for us to have individual publicity like this. The complete detail was so well believed-out and it was terrific to see our do the job arrive to life on the catwalk.
“The movies will be shared with us so we have some thing tangible to demonstrate companies in the course of interviews. It is terrific to be equipped to verify that you can actually make your types.”
Penny Kowalkowski’s take on a little black costume applying knit fabric
Inspired by classic Swiss costumes, Contour Manner college student Ga Haffenden printed her possess graphic floral style and design on to organza and layered it with lace and leather-based for her lingerie collection.
“It was a refreshing practical experience and completely distinctive to anything we had accomplished in advance of, which will straight away make our portfolios stand out to companies,” said the 22-calendar year-outdated from Kent.
“Our tutors invested a lot of time performing with the professionals to make guaranteed we have been all delighted. I helped out driving the scenes and you could see the amount of money of individuals it took to make it occur. Immediately after a tricky yr, it was so lovely.”
High-class lingerie by Georgia Haffenden
Style Layout student Fiona Cheung presented a sustainable collection which incorporates her initial electronic layouts on patchworked substance sourced 2nd hand.
The 22-year-previous from Worcestershire reported: “Everything was meticulously prepared and arranged to maximise how every single assortment appeared, from the lights to the positioning of the types.
“It was an inventive strategy accomplished in a distinctive way, which will truly give us an edge as graduates.”
Fiona Cheung’s sustainable strategy to higher fashion
The 4 catwalks had been filmed working with five cameras and DMU experts ended up dependable for every little thing from vision and seem mixing to projections and lighting. Put up generation, the footage was edited into lengthier shows, as nicely as shorter reels that pupils can share with employers.
James Thompson, a Overall performance and Activities Manager in DMU’s Data Technologies and Media Expert services, claimed: “Covid offered us with an prospect to do significantly a lot more with our have area. It was a seriously enjoyable challenge for our staff, specifically getting to get the job done with a scenic element.
“Collaborating with so several other teams was gratifying and it actually demonstrates what we can reach for long run functions much too. It was a pretty welcome good to come out of the pandemic.”

Posted on Monday 9th August 2021
