SFT showcased the creative designs of 17 graduating students from its MA in Fashion and Textile Design at its annual graduation fashion show on 6 July at PMQ, a Grade 3 Historic Hong Kong Building, attracting an audience of over 300 with distinguished guests including local designer Ms Lu Lu Cheung, as well as a global audience of nearly 24,000 on the online live stream of YouTube, Wechat and Weibo. The theme of this year's Show is "I = x, y, z, w". All that the audiences saw, heard and felt were presented as a gateway into the designers’ complex inner psyche (x, y, z, w).
The Show was opened by student Sheng Zhichao, who brought along a menswear collection inspired by his childhood memories of playing hide and seek. His design underlines the notions of exposure and concealment.
One of the pinnacle moments of the evening was created by Yin Hao, whose collection was an exploration of virtual healing and traditional Chinese medicine. Each outfit of her collection embedded 3D printed ‘virtual devices’ in the garment.
Another highlight was the collection of Li Bingxue. The collection was inspired by how women can take control of their environment through states of dress and undress.
Closing the Show was the collection of He Yitong. It was inspired by how weeds and certain economic classes of people could be considered as being social survivors. The designer wanted to bring urbanites closer to nature, where there were garments that had been plant dyed.
Mr Ryan Scott Houlton, programme leader, hopes that talented and ambitious young designers can fully demonstrate their creative potential through this practical one-year course. He remarked, “This programme aims to nurture future industry mavericks, who are innovative and free-thinking. We also equip them with comprehensive skillset. I look forward to seeing our graduates shine in the field, and become a new driving force and potential disrupters in the global fashion industry.”