Lynne McCrossan: Forget new york, the degree show is fashion heaven

By LYNNE McCROSSAN
Published on 28/05/2012 12:00

Degree show season swung round again and the fruits of a year’s labour at Edinburgh College of Art stormed the runway in sensational style.

Forget Paris, London and even New York fashion week, for me there is no better showcase of talent than when the college opens those famous doors to introduce another year of graduates to the world.

For the first time the show moved to a new home at Playfair Library Hall. I was a little worried that the collections would get lost in the grandeur of that iconic space but I needn’t have.

As the music blared and the models pounded down the catwalk, it was the surroundings that faded and the clothes took centre stage.

First out were the fashion group projects. I was thrilled to see the collections from Caste Collective, Relation and Fable float past me. These three groups pitched to me at the beginning of the year when I guest lectured their class. To see what they had created in such a short period of time was mind-blowing.

Then fourth-year graduate collections — the moment any fashion junkie waits for. Jacob Birge opened the show with a dark, almost alien vibe. Jaqueline McLardie’s 1940s femme fatale look was right up my street and I could see myself and a million other women wearing her clothes instantly. But it was Katie Bremner’s Plume collection that left me on a fashion high.

Her full-length fringe gowns in bubblegum pastels and stark whites moved like water down the runway. It was bohemian and avant garde at the same time. A nod to vintage but so modern. A truly creative collection.