The first ever fashion exhibit designed by students and graduates of the School of Form (SOF) for the International Fashion Showcase (IFS) at the 2017 London Fashion week has been recognized for the choice of materials and cohesion of design with the main theme of the Festival - “Local/Global”. Agnieszka Jacobson-Cielecka and Wojciech Dziedzic, lecturers from the School of Form, received the International Fashion Showcase Curation Award.
The 18-member international jury, comprising curators, representatives of the media, education, and various institutions assessed 26 exhibits from several countries, including Austria, Czech Republic, Egypt, India, Korea, Poland, Romania, and Taiwan.
The designs presented by the School of Form at the 2017 IFS exhibition can be regarded as the response of young designers to the problems of the contemporary fashion industry, such as mass production and unethical business practices. These aspects of fashion had become the starting point for the Polish team. The students and graduates of the School of Form aimed to reduce the destructive impact of the modern fashion industry on the world by redesigning ready-made clothing and slowing down the pace of the design and manufacturing processes. Their “slow-fashion” incorporates traditional Polish crafting techniques and showcases the young designers’ sewing, construction, crochet and macramé skills. In their designs, the students strive for balance between the contemporary luxury and communist-era kitsch, which had been rejected by their parents. The result of the designers’ efforts, the “Waste Not” collection, mixes crafts with tribal aesthetics and global trends and embraces the “LOCAL/GLOBAL” theme of the IFS 2017.
The exhibition space, designed entirely with the use of recycled materials, by a Warsaw design studio Beton, followed the same aesthetic. Designers incorporated remnants of wood, fabric and discarded clothing to create a space for the display of the fashion designs. The IFS jury appreciated the cohesion of the exhibition space and the fashion pieces.
It is a great honour and joy for us, especially that it was School of Form’s first ever exhibition at the London Fashion Week. Our students showed not only solid design and sewing skills, but most of all they displayed a humanistic approach to the problems of contemporary fashion industry. Their project was both critical and optimistic in its expression. It was a constructive proposition for everyone.
Agnieszka Jacobson-Cielecka, curator of "Waste Not” exhibit
The “Waste Not” exhibit was a part of the 2017 International Fashion Showcase, organized by the British Council, the British Fashion Council and Mercedes-Benz, in cooperation with the London Fashion Week.
The exhibition took place at the West Wing of Somerset House in London, from the 17th to 21st of February, 2017.
Designers:
- Agata Birek,
- Agnieszka Tomczak,
- Anna Kujawska,
- Jagoda Fryca,
- Kasia Kwiatkowska,
- Michał Wiśniewski,
- Natasza Rogozińska.
Curators:
- Wojciech Dziedzic,
- Agnieszka Jacobson-Cielecka.
Exhibition space design:
Organizers:
- Polish Cultural Institute in London
- School of Form
- Adama Mickiewicza Institute as Culture.pl brand