Perhaps the highlight of ‘Fashion for Cancer’ last Sunday was seeing fellow DMU students have their work featured on  the catwalk. When interviewing the designers, they said how their work is rarely seen out of the classroom, so the opportunity to showcase it to the public was an amazing opportunity for them, whilst raising money for an amazing cause.

With fellow journalists and Demon Media members I sat front row at the fashion show, enjoying the amazements before our eyes. The lights, the music, the models all came together to feature the students designs. Even though the students are not commercial designers, you could not tell by the quality of the designs. Each outfit set before the audience was definitely high end and not high street.

To kick off the DMU designer’s part of the show was DMU student Nathan Bishop, who designs Menswear. During my interview with Nathan he expressed that the influences for his work  came from sharp tailoring and sportswear. The first of the two was expressed by Nathan’s first outfit- but with a twist. Nathan combined the monochrome trend to a dip dye style, asymmetric collar with an off centre button stand and a transparent PVC coat.

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Nathan’s next design on the catwalk was heavily influenced by classic Versace prints and Baroque decor. The design was based on a concept of bringing wealth and power to street wear in such an overstated way that it presents itself, almost, with a deliberate undertone of tack. The jacket featured a statement gold zipper with a chain geometric pattern on the chest and arm area. For the bottom half, Nathan designed basketball shorts with CAD knit leggings underneath. The pattern on the leggings was made up of a variation of shapes and sizes of perfume bottles and the basketball shorts are a geometric chain print on a snake skin printed fabric. (the fabric was bought with the snake skin print on it). The two pieces together, both complimented yet contrasted each other, showing how menswear is becoming even bolder by aspiring designers.

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The third outfit in Nathan’s collection was by far my favourite.  Over the past year the Blazer has been growing in popularity, season after season. It is the ultimate versatile outerwear piece for men. So when I heard that Nathan has designed and made a blazer I was dying to see it. Winter is now heavily upon us, but when I was sat at the catwalk and one of the models walked on in Nathan’s design, I was transported to spring time. Nathan used a baby blue colour for the blazer with a printed design on the shoulders. The pattern was designed as a collage, with Nathan’s own illustration, on Photoshop and then printed onto the fabric along with the blue using a process called Pigment Printing. Nathan then blended the exact shade of blue himself giving a more bespoke feel to the jacket. The design with the bright blue is in my opinion an ‘Avant garde’ approach to a classic tailoring item. Underneath the blazer was a floral beige shirt which complimented and didn’t detract from the detailing around the shoulder area of the blazer. As a whole you wouldn’t have believed that all three items were created by the same designer. This just shows how diverse one designer can be.

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The next DMU fashion student who featured their designs on the catwalk was Amy crofts textured design. When speaking to Amy before the show she expressed how she used varied textures in her work. This piece features that the best with Amy’s use of varied materials. Some would say the use of more than a couple materials would be too much however Amy designed the garment in a way it made use of all the different materials to create a fabulous and fun outfit. The design of Amy’s wasn’t the only one that was featured on the catwalk; however we only have an image of the above mentioned design.

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The next womenswear design was worn by the stunning Suzie Webb and was created by DMU designer; Yasmin. When speaking with Yasmin before the show she told me that she got her inspiration from the culture around her. Yasmin’s speciality is print which show through this stunning item. The dress with fabric and beaded fringing added drama to the piece with the tailored jacket accentuating Suzie’s silhouette.

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Yasmin’s other piece was worn by the fabulous Victoria. The dress featured a bold orange print which mimicked her inspiration. Once again the beading added drama to the outfit, as well as tying in with the theme of the collection.

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DMU fashion student India was next with her skater inspired womenswear outfit. India used various fabrics and colours to piece together a stunning coat. What I love most about this item is that India hasn’t used one fabric or colour as the predominate one, which makes it original and in a way a different item every time you see it.

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India’s second outfit as worn by Suzie was even more skater inspired. India adapted the bodycon dress which accentuated Suzie’s fabulous figure, showing the technique India has as a designer. What I love about this outfit is the turquoise slip over the main dress which features ¾ sleeves. The turquoise see through slip brought the dress alive as well as highlighting the patterns underneath it.

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Last on the catwalk were Shamin’s designs. Similar to Yasmin, Shamin is influenced by culture and especially the Hindu culture. Yasmin has especially used bold prints and patterns to create a multi-cultural look. Each part of the outfit (trouser, top and coat) features a different pattern showcasing Yasmin’s skills as a print designer. The puffa coat ties the outfit together the outfit as a whole bringing together the different pastel colours used.

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Not one design on the catwalk was the same, even if it was created by the same designer. This just goes to show how talented DMU’s student’s are. And if this is what only a handful can do I’d love to see what the rest of the fashion design students are like.

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That’s it from Demon fashion on Fashion for Cancer. Check out the many articles from the day on the fashion section.