FASHION MAKES STYLE: LCF MENSWEAR

"Savile Row has been synonymous with London style and the epitome of smart men’s dressing for two centuries, and London has been an international leader in menswear for just as long. For nearly 300 years from the mid-1500s the apprenticeship system was the accepted route into tailoring, and was regulated by law; it was forbidden to practice a craft without having served a period of time under a Master Craftsman. While it’s no longer governed by legislation, the apprenticeship system, as well as related college courses, remain the recognised means of entry to Savile Row. The Golden Shears prize is awarded biennially to the best emerging tailor, sponsored by the Merchant Taylors’ Company to promote new talent in the field, and British menswear retains its global reputation, producing some of the highest quality craftsmanship anywhere in the world."

Amber Butchart
Dress Historian & Associate Lecturer in Cultural & Historical Studies at London College of Fashion

Sohyeon Park explores class through tailoring for MA18

"The most influential thing was my father and social classes. Based on his story, I found out that 1970s Korea prevailed for strong division of social classes, and I applied this to my project."

Find out about Sohyeon Park's LCF News

Pakho Lee
"After substantially removing garment parts, what was left was the imperative entities that construct and give identity to a garment. My collection conveys my own and controversial definition of minimal fashion."

Find out about Pakho Lee's graduate collection on LCF News

Ziqing Zhou
"I'd describe my collection as Masculine, Sexy, Blue, Exclusive, Intelligent."

Find out about Ziqing Zhou's graduate collection on LCF News

Xiaozhou Su
"My collection is a combination of classical tailoring and the avante-garde. The style is created in response to an analysis of the male body, connected with the work of master artists and their individual understanding of how lines can be used to create a man’s shape. My garments reference ideas from Matisse and other fine artists."
Find out about Xiaozhou Su's graduate collection on LCF News

Owen Hughes, MA18

Went Tao Shi
"I chose the colours green and red. The late 1960s were the period of the Chinese cultural revolution – the government controlled people, and they just wore green, blue and black. Their inside lining was red so that’s why I picked this colour."
Find out about Went Tao Shi's graduate collection on LCF News

Coline Gauthier, MA18

Shu Yao
This is a unique fabric from China that is double sided and was dyed naturally in a river bed. The fabric was buried in the river bed, this is what created the colour. There are only ten dye workshops left in China."
Find out about Shu Yao's graduate collection on LCF News

Alexis Housden
"I started off by doing research on depression and moved on to looking at German expressionism, but then I started to look at veils and the way they are used in the west, so for mourning and weddings. There is clear evidence of that in my work which uses Tuiles for example but I didn’t just try and represent mourning and loss in my work I wanted to represent what happens after mourning and loss."

Find out about Alexis Housden's graduate collection on LCF News

Soojin Cho
"I got many detailing ideas from romanticism and found a brilliant pattern idea on a hat that women wore. I brought this to the hood of my jackets, which feature many variations of very sophisticated details and pleats."
Find out about Soo Jin Cho graduate collection on LCF News

Changxi Shao
"Working on pattern cutting and trying different garment structures has been the most enjoyable part of the course for me. I’ve really enjoyed exploring new ways of constructing garments and adding detail to them. What’s been really difficult is staying on top of my work/life balance."
Find out about Changxi Shao's graduate collection on LCF News

Hengmin Lu, MA18

"It is inspired by Mao architecture and structure – I explored functionality and a way of dressing through pattern cutting."

Find out about Hengmin Lu's graduate collection on LCF News

Bethany Williams
"Through traditional hand crafted techniques and working with local craftsmen/women, we have developed the surface of these waste materials to create hand crafted woven, printed, knitted and embroidered materials. This exploration has lead to the development of a new fabric constructed from cardboard which is hand woven in the UK."
Find out about Bethany Williams's graduate collection on LCF News

Victor Pastor Olivares
"My design explores integrated technologies such as bounding, laser cutting, printing, knitting (by computerised Stoll machine) and synthetic dyeing. Faulty printing and burnt edges are allowed, since they are a key evidence of my creative process."
Find out about Victor Pastor Olivares's graduate collection on LCF News