Dezeen's top five collections from London College of Fashion MA Womenswear 2016
Dezeen design editor Dan Howarth's selection of the best graduate collections from London College of Fashion's MA Womenswear this year includes dresses made using PVC flooring and skirts constructed from plywood.
In the wood-panelled surrounds of the Royal College of Surgeons, London College of Fashion's (LCF) 2016 womenswear show took place last night on the eve of London Fashion Week.
"Our MA Womenswear course continues from strength to strength and by holding our LCFMA16 show ahead of LFW it gives us the opportunity to profile the graduate's collections at a time when the fashion industry is looking to London," said LCF head Frances Corner.
Ten designers were selected from this year's crop of graduates by an industry panel to present in the catwalk show, which was accompanied by a live music performance from Haelos.
Here's our pick of the top five collections from the show:
Padded pillowy forms were draped over the body and tied into bows in Zhixian Wang's collection, which was influenced by Taiwanese poet and writer Sanmao's Stories of the Sahara.
"She has a really romantic but sad love story," Wang told Dezeen." She met her true love in the Sahara and he became her husband, but he died six months later."
Beginning all-white, the parade of garments gradually included more orange until the final outfits shown were fully coloured, a progression intended to reflect Sanmao's story. A couple of models also carried huge spherical balloons.
Named Sick, Yawen Qian's collection featured garments based on hospital gowns and clothing for disabled people.
"My inspiration comes from my parents, who are both doctors," Qian told Dezeen. "Inside, the garments are all white."
Each of the garmets was made from one piece of material, with PVC flooring and memory foam bonded into layers.
Sui Yiru
Sui Yiru used thin cherry plywood to form panels, outlines and full skirts for her collection.
"My design idea is just clean, geometric shapes, and the colours are simple black and white mixed with the natural wood," Sui told Dezeen.
The wooden pieces were paired with white and black fabrics, attached using bondweb.
Desirée Slabik stitched fluffy plumes of organza by hand to form voluminous sleeves and trousers for sharp white outfits, as well as entire ensembles.
"My collection develops from a really white architectural look to a really floral, flowerbomb look," Slabik told Dezeen. "Really white to really colourful, and really graphic to really organic."
The ruffled elements were also hand-dyed to create an ombre effect that blended from pink through yellow to white.
Gently undulated squares of material formed hats to accompany Ysabel Lee's dark-coloured collection.
"It's about how western culture impacts eastern," Lee told Dezeen. "The life model we live is currently very box-like, so I focused on that."
Lee used drapery, pleating and double hems to create her clothes, which also featured large yellow stitches to provide extra details. Square buttons and magnets were used to keep the lines as clean as possible.