Editor @ Large . . . GFW RAVENSBOURNE

Sometimes its hard to get yourself excited about GFW. Ravensbourne, always one of my favourite shows proved to be more than just about clothes. Sitting next to my journalistic idol, Hillary Alexander, (who pointed out the pre-show music was the tune from tetris - now we know how she passes the time in between shows) and spotting that my favourite designer Vivienne Westwood was mere metres away quite frankly I was struggling to hold my pencil!

The show kicked off with some excellent menswear from Bobby Charles Abley, inspired by batman and all things cartoonish, prints consisted of white speech bubbles on hues of red, blue and green trousers/tees and jackets. Shoulders were BIG and the childish elements were challenged by the kinky bondage strapping.

There is definitely a rebellion happening around Ravensbourne! The number of black based, punk inspired collections for both men and women was immense. My favourites came from Kirsty Nolan who sent leather cropped jackets with incredibly detailed shoulder leather work down the runway. These were teamed with cheeky sheer chiffon trousers, and slinky catsuits that looked like melted tar they were so tight! The architectural leather work was softened by theuse of jewels to emphasis stitch detailing and silhouette.

Another rocking collection from Camilla Frydenberg again used architectural clothing to impress. Leather strapping was used to attach oversized pleated structures, like giant silk fans. Smaller pleats were used like peplums at the hips of pencil skirts. These harder structures were again given a softer edge with the use of cowl backs. The leather jackets were divine and again catsuits were used as a base to showcase the tailored pieces.

Aside from the rock chicks, big shoulders were the order of the day and colour palette ranged from super cartoonish hues to moody monochromes mixed with nude and peach pink tones that added a girlish element.
Two students, both sponsored also produced excellent collections.
Menswear graduate, Jade Rozenbroek sponsored by Asos created a really interesting yet wearable collection. Again black, white and grey were the order of the day with plenty of relaxed tailoring (a favourite being the bubble hemmed frock coat) and oversized shirting on slim fit trousers. Fur collars added the detail of the day and the tailoring filtered into shorter bomber jacket styles. I can definitely see fashionable blokes snapping these items up.

Finally save the best till last. Kiley Evans, sponsered by Swarovski I was worried that this collection would be sparkle overload, but luckily Kiley knew how to execute this in a classy way. The print (black on grey chiffon) was very abstract and graphic. It reminded me of Aminaka Wilmont, All Saints and Bolongaro Trevor. Dresses were super grungy, with drapes and pintucks creating interesting shapes, it had a very deconstructed feel that was made sleeker by the splattering of Swarovski gems. It was quite a layered collection again with asymmetric pieces and fabric mixes of leather, chiffons and silk. The sleeve panelling showed strong construction that were emphasised by the Gaga style shapes.

Overall Ravensbourbe as always has been hailed as the gemof GFW. So many collections were so strong and all these students have a strong base to go out to work or indeed further their abilities through an MA. Good Luck Ravensbourne 2010!