Fashion Design cohort collaborates with Chinese students for fashion show in Zhejiang

The 10 third-year students headed to China in November for a fabric sourcing trip where they visited the four cities of Shanghai, Shaoxing, Hangzhou and Ningbo, and capped it off with a show involving themselves and just less than 300 students from the Zhejiang Fashion Institute of Technology.

Inspired by a construction technique devised by the French fashion designer Maison Martin Margiela in which socks are reappropriated into garments, the students were put into ten groups, each tasked with designing and producing five looks, a photo shoot and a design poster for the evening show that was held within the prestigious Ningbo Bang Museum.

The show was a big success as students demonstrated their creativity, innovation and collaboration skills to circumvent the difficulties of a language barrier with enthusiasm, determination and a little help from technology. The whole trip was fantastic and a life-changing experience for the students who sourced fabrics from each of the four cities they visited, experiencing the diversity and richness of Chinese culture and its textile industry.

Ciara Kent, a BA Fashion Design student, said: “I loved the show and felt very grateful to have been part of something so big with so many talented students. I was extremely nervous to begin with but once we found a way to begin trying to communicate, it was a lot of fun and extremely rewarding when you were all finally able to understand each other.”

Megan Bradley, a fellow student, added: “I really enjoyed working with the students from Fashion Design as well as styling and photography and seeing how different their design process was from mine. Once we worked past the communication issues, I had a really great day and was amazed to see the show and the production value of it.”

Eva Parry, another fellow student, said: “I learnt how important styling is to fashion as it can elevate looks immensely. I was super proud after the show of the teamwork and everyone’s ability to go above and beyond to communicate.”