By: Jennifer Lau and Sophia-Ines Klein
Photography: Altaire Neumunz
In the height of fashion week season LSESU’s Raising And Giving society (RAG) has put its name on the schedule with its third annual fundraising fashion show ‘Reawakening: Threads of Resilience”. Curated as a reflection of the journey of reawakening that finds its way into each person’s life, the lineup brought this to the runway through four themes; The Dream, The Fall, The Struggle, and The Rebirth, each defined by a distinct and unique energy and artistry.
The fashion show stands out as one of the bold expressions of the student body’s creativity. In a university where the arts is often overlooked, RAG contributes actively to the championing of artistic expression on campus. This effort does not go unsupported with an audience of 425 people from LSE and beyond filling the seats of the fashion show’s two-part runway on the ground floor of the Marshall building and the Student Union building’s Venue.
As social editors the show was an event we were looking forward to, and it certainly was a treat. Here’s our debrief; what we think, and which looks stood out most.
The Dream
Following the show’s theme of the wonder of life and the struggles that come with it, The Dream acts as the former. The experience was exactly as the director intended – dream-like and drenched in a hazy reverie through the green-lit room and slow catwalk. Although the theme initially suggested soft and angelic silhouettes, the designers subverted this with an interplay of strong structured pieces and elements taken from current trends like Bohemian 1970s and ‘Y2K’. What stood out were draping fabrics, spacious and at times bold silhouettes, and an abundance of shimmery silks and satins. Zosia Lau’s piece ‘The Mushroom’ from her Natural Forms collection stood out as a combination of these elements. She effectively contrasts fabrics in what appears to be a charmeuse silk shirt, and calico corset and wide hoop dress, creating a fantastical look you might find in Alice in Wonderland adjacent fever dream. As the final look to close out The Dream segment, it perfectly captured the director’s vision.
The interplay of textiles was also a highlight of the line. Specifically, the white tux and skirt designed by Ziyao Zang stood out for its intricate floral stitching. The simple white suit paired with a matching white skirt, designed by Ziyao Zang, takes on a captivating essence through its contrasting matte flower embroidery on the shiny fabric of the blazer. The vibrant oranges and reds draw attention down to the matching lace sock on his right foot, while the mismatched socks and what is described as a white ‘wine’ high heels add an unexpected twist to the otherwise simple tux set.
The Fall
The Fall begins boldly, acting as the first section of ‘The Struggle’. It completely shifted the tone and ‘shattered’ the dream through a palette of red and black accompanied by sharp angles. It subverts what was initially offered to us from The Dream and brought a new wave of energy and intrigue drowned in darkness. The lineup triggered emotions of despondency and bitter retort, which was tactically enhanced through the punctuated beat of the music and the sudden increase in the models’ pace.
Apart from the colour palette, this line felt much more diverse in material, structure and form. Ranging from red gingham fabric with ruched stitching to create the appearance of spikes, to draped leather across the covered body over a bare back, this line did not disappoint in presenting diverse silhouettes.
Bryon, a first-year LSE student, styled his look to “achieve a vulnerability through the use of torn fabrics,” which was beautifully done through a ‘barely-there’ shirt with an open back that appears as though it’s hanging on by a thread as the model clutched a tasseled leather black bag. Bryon aptly named the look “burnt cowboy”, perfectly representing the strength present despite ‘falling’ from grace.
Another look that stood out was a red ruched dress designed by Scarlett Cowell, layered with a leather harness. The look reminded us of the current rise of boho chic, adjacent to an edgier Isabel Marant. The contrast between the linen red shirt dress and the black leather straps and puffy layered sleeves creates a softened boldness, creating a striking flair between modern boldness and sleek femininity.
The Struggle
The Struggle emerges as a resistance to the deep tones and harsh contrast of The Fall that preceded it. From the audience, bold structured shapes stood out, reminiscent of medieval armour and giving a sense of strength in spite of the fight. Described as “resilience in motion”, the stylists and designers that put the line up together aptly captured just that. With many stand out looks, it made picking just one favourite particularly difficult. Claire Yue Li, one of the LSE student models, donned in a dark navy set designed by SOLObygili quickly captured our attention with her strong catwalk and a look to match. The look was complete with a top that reminded us of a knight’s chest plate, and oversized trousers that resembled distressed denim with hardware matching the top.
A dress designed by Qinwen Yan showed a more elegant futuristic take on the theme, reminiscent of clothes worn by the Divergent Trilogy’s Erudite leaders. The dress stunned with futuristic elegance achieved through the structure of the dress that was created with shoulder pads, a high neckline, and a large slit that opens to reveal blue flowing fabric beneath. The stylist complemented the look well with silver statement earrings, a thick gold bangle, and hair slicked into a bubble ponytail.
The Rebirth
The show brought its audience to the end of their journey with The Rebirth and it did not disappoint. The structured looks of The Struggle were complemented by the rawness of The Rebirth, providing a snapshot of the unrefined creative process with texture and draping in sandy dull tones. There was a heavy interplay of opaque and mesh fabric that revealed an intentional creation of dimension in each piece, achieving an air of light ethereal elegance. Yet, the lineup showed that stylists and designers did not revert to the stereotypical heavenly aura we think of when we hear ‘rebirth’, instead we saw both a soft and bold approach to the theme. Poppy White’s full white set stood out as one of our favourite looks as it reveals a craftsmanship of draping and ruching to create a transformative ruched skirt with under trousers, and a drawstring gathered top with a hood. The combination of ballooney bottoms with the hood reminiscent of a balaclava, a long-trending autumn-winter piece, created a striking silhouette that moved gracefully down the runway.
One of our favourite looks was styled by Bryon that spotlights a cropped jacket studded with metallic disks from Singaporean brand Lasik Industries. He styled the jacket with a tiered skirt layered atop a floral skirt turned inside out revealing just the juxtaposition of bold and soft that we describe. In conversation with Bryon, he revealed that he intentionally designed this look to subvert audience’s expectations of the theme. “I wanted the look to seem like the graceful fabrics were being stifled by the very exaggerated, brutalist jacket, which has really thick shoulder pads,” he told us.
The LSESU RAG fashion show remains a stage to spotlight talent amongst LSE students and London’s young designers. This year’s show was filled with surprises and diverse stylistic expression perfectly complementing a theme that paid tribute to the shared human experience of chasing our ambitions. Showcasing the success of collaboration amongst students, we look forward to seeing how the show continues to grow in the coming years.
