On Thursday 23rd February London College of Fashion hosted an exclusive screening of the new Ozwald Boateng film ‘A Man’s Story’.

LCF students and staff enjoyed drinks and popcorn courtesy of Red Bull before the screening of the film, a full-length documentary covering the last 12 years of Ozwald Boateng’s life.

After the screening Ozwald Boateng OBE, entered the packed out auditorium to a standing ovation to launch his exciting design competition. Design students nationwide can enter on the ‘A Man’s Story’ Facebook page for the chance of an internship at the Ozwald Boateng studios.

Following the competition launch, students got the chance to ask the man himself some of their burning questions. These ranged from students asking about his sources of inspiration and the belief behind his collections to a marriage proposal!

• For more competition information check the ‘A Man’s Story’ Facebook page
• Images by Tobias Rose

L-R: Prof Frances Corner OBE, Harold Tillman CBE, and Wendy Malem Director of DISC (Photo: Jon Bradley)

This month, at the Hackney Picture House, London College of Fashion launched the Designer-Manufacturer Innovation Support Centre (DISC) to the fashion industry.

DISC has emerged from the fashion alliance founded two years ago by LCF’s Centre for Fashion Enterprise, the British Fashion Council, Skillset – the Manufacturing Advisory Service, and UKFT. Key partners are CENTA and London Borough of Hackney. DISC has been set up to help fashion manufacturers and designers innovate their business, products and services.

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LCF PhD student Hormazd Narielwalla is showcasing work that he created from discarded patterns of deceased Savile Row customers, which he discovered by chance when working at a Savile Row tailor. The eerie skull shapes are formed from tailoring patterns that are then manipulated to create the form of the skull. Narielwalla draws on his own background as a former artist in residence at Savile Row tailor Dege & Skinner.

The exhibition will run from 20 February – 3 March at Sheridan & Co’s Blandford Street studio on 10A Blandford Street, London, W1U.

Narielwalla’s artworks are being shown as part of retail design consultancy Sheridan & Co’s exhibition series at its London window space this year. The inaugural show for 2012 will take place during London Fashion Week, and will showcase the work of Narielwalla alongside an analogue light projection by software artist Ed Burton.

• Read coverage on designweek.co.uk

Oliver Ruuger's window at Selfridges

2011 MA Fashion Artefact graduate Oliver Ruuger was selected to take part in Selfridges’ 2012 Bright Young Things showcase.

The pioneering project by Selfridges looks to seek out and champion the most exciting young creators in the UK, with the Bright Young Things’ products available to buy from three pop up shops in store as well as online at selfridges.com.

Bright Young Things took over the Oxford Street and Duke Street windows at the famous department store.

One of Oliver's umbrella's which featured on the MA_11 catwalk

• Read more about Bright Young Things

Dressed Integrity is a project developed at the Swedish School of Textiles, University of Borås. With a varied focus on design methodology, identity, experiments in shape and material, processes, sketching and cutting, the exhibition showed both finished products and work in progress, which address the question of integrity.

Six PhD students in practical design research contributed their own perspective on the theme Dressed Integrity. The exhibition presents photographs, films, sketches, garments and collections.

This is an exchange exhibition between LCF and The Swedish School of Textiles, University of Borås, Sweden and follows the Drawing and the Body exhibition held in Sweden last year.

We caught up with Camilo Echeverri and Giovanni Martins – two graduates from the 2011 MA Fashion Photography cohort – who exhibited at the Future Map exhibition.

Last term second year BA (Hons) Bespoke Tailoring students and FdA Tailoring students worked with Timothy Everest to create a tailored jacket and trouser to complement the Timothy Everest Bespoke Casual Collection.

Students visited the Timothy Everest studio where they got to see recent projects, followed by a tour around the workshops detailing the Bespoke process, from the first pattern to the finished garment. The students were then lucky enough to have a look at the private archives of the Museum of London.

Students Sarah Poffa and Magdalena Handwerker wowed judges with their high levels of craftsmanship and will join Timothy Everest for an internship.

BA (Hons) Fashion Photography students Xander Mitchell, Danny Lowe, and Vladimir Potop documented the process.

We caught up with the two MA_12 winners straight after the catwalk show to see how they were feeling.

Menswear: Collection of the Year was Tina Elisabeth Reiter – whose modern, fresh and innovative collection was inspired by her Austrian heritage.

The winner of Womenswear: Collection of the Year was Hana Cha from Seoul in South Korea, who produced a show-stopping collection of exquisite womenswear featuring luxurious golds and purples, that required hours of painstaking hand embroidery.

TV and radio personality Lauren Laverne announced the awards, with the help of young British designer Christopher Raeburn.

Joseph Turvey's collection on the catwalk at the MA show. Image: Chris Moore / Catwalking.com

London Fashion Week officially begins today and is a highlight of the international fashion calendar. This season promises to be another stand out year for LCF’s incredibly talented alumni who are debuting or returning to showcase their collections to the fashion elite.

Here we bring you a roundup of the freshest LCF talent breaking into the fashion industry at London Fashion Week February 2012, including MA_12 designers who showed a matter of weeks ago in the beautiful surroundings of the V&A and Victoria House who have already been snapped up to showcase their graduate collections.

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Margarita Ruiz Velázquez, a graduate from London College of Fashion’s BA (Hons) Active Sportswear course received the Special Award Gore Bike Wear for her collection “Vertical Cyclewear” at last month’s FASH 2012 Awards in Germany. The Venezuelan design graduate designed a menswear collection that merges elements of athletic sportswear with the aesthetics of fashion brands, and is perfectly suitable for cycling as well as at the office or at a trendy “Cycle Café”.

“All details radiate understanding of the sport and its followers,” said panel member Clemens Deilmann, Head of Design, Gore Bike Wear.

A panel of international experts from across the design, fashion, retail and sports industries, as well as members of the press selected the winners according to strict criteria. The award presentation was held on January 29 2012 at the international sporting goods trade show ISPO MUNICH 12.

• Read more about the FASH 2012 Awards
• View Margarita’s showtime profile
• BA (Hons) Fashion Sportswear