LCF is proud to announce LCFM, a brand new initiative showcasing new collections from emerging menswear designers, all of whom are LCF alumni with expanding businesses. LCFM, which sits alongside London Collections: Men, the first showcase of its kind in London to celebrate emerging and established menswear brands, presents Asger Juel Larsen, Matteo Molinari, Domingo Rodriguez and Oliver Ruuger showing their S/S 2013 collections to buyers and press for the first time. Through LCFM, LCF is setting the bar for supporting and nurturing British trained designers who represent the future of menswear. Professor Frances Corner OBE, Head of LCF said,

LCFM marks an exciting new phase for LCF. We know that our menswear alumni are amongst the best in the world, we also know the financial climate is making it even tougher for emerging designers to break into the fashion industry; which is why London Collections provides us with the perfect opportunity to present these inspiring young designers to the world stage and help propel them and their fledging businesses to even greater success.

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Nicol Vizioli Shadows on Parade

MA Fashion Photography graduate Nicol Vizioli is exhibiting her work at the Arts Gallery, High Holborn.

Born in Rome, Nicol Vizioli graduated from MA Fashion Photography with first class honours in 2011. Her work has been exhibited in Future Map at the Zabludowicz Collection and was shortlisted for the Sony World Photography Student Focus Awards. It has also been exhibited as part of the 15th Biennale de l’Europe in Greece and Vizioli will be represented and SCOPE Basel later this year.

Beguiling, unsettling and evocative, Shadows on Parade reveals new photographic works by Nicol Vizioli. Opening on 17 May at the Arts Gallery, Holborn, Shadows on Parade unveils for the first time Vizioli’s complete series of works probing mythology and dream sequences, including new works specially created for the exhibition. Commenting on her work Vizioli states:

I can only honestly show people the way I look at the world, the way I approach the language of photography. I am not interested in documenting the reality around me; the only reality I am interested in is the one that all the creatures I often meet suggest to me, the one I see when I close my eyes, almost sleeping. The only real thing I know is the sharp need I have inside me, that most of the time I don’t know where is leading me. My research is focused on the wide range of human forms and different beauties I find and see.

17 May – 29 June,
Arts Gallery, University of the Arts London, 272 High Holborn, WC1V 7EY
Monday – Friday 11am – 6pm. Nearest tube Holborn

• MA Fashion Photography information
• More information on the event
• Nicol’s LCF Showtime profile
• Nicol’s website

Soviet Menswear

Menswear brand Soviet has collaborated with LCF with an engaging design project. Final year students studying BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Technology: Menswear will be challenged to design an innovative 10 piece SS13 collection, with winning designs going into production and retailed through USC’s 40 nationwide stores. The winner will be announced in June 2012.

Michael Boyd, Soviet’s head of design commented

We are really excited about the partnership with London College of Fashion and finding rising stars within the fashion industry. We are very keen on supporting fashion students and providing industry critique and review that will put students in good stead for their foray into employment in the fashion industry. We will be looking for designs that reflect Soviet’s brand DNA and have an edge over competitor brands.

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Carnaby Book Exchange

The Carnaby Book Exchange is a space where you can pick up a book, relax in an armchair and explore the vast expanses of fashion, travel, music, photography and design, to name but a few topics. You are able to leave a book that you have read, and in return take one away from the space for free!

The project, located in Kingly Court just off Carnaby Street, has been curated by MA Fashion Curation students at London College of Fashion.

• MA Fashion Curation course information
• More on Carnaby Book Exchange

The Copenhagen Summit main hall

LCF’s Centre for Sustainable Fashion attended The Copenhagen Fashion Summit, the world’s largest conference on sustainability and fashion.

During the events, LCF was praised for its work with the fashion industry. Two recent MA Fashion and the Environment graduates were singled out - Katie Ledger and Emma Rigby (now an LCF PhD student) – as well as the work of Helen Storey, Kate Fletcher and i-Sustain. Another current student, Coco Noordervliet, was also on stage and spoke as part of the Youth Fashion Summit.

The Youth Summit brought together 80 fashion students from across Europe, including six from LCF’s MA Fashion and the Environment, to vocalise demands for the fashion industry. The proceedings were led by Peter Ingwerson of Noir and Day Birger & Mikkelsen and Dilys Williams, Director of Centre for Sustainable Fashion, in conjunction with KEA Copenhagen School of Design & Technology.

• MA Fashion and the Environment course information
• Read more about the Copenhagen Fashion Summit

Everyone at LCF was very sad to learn today of the death of one of the world’s most iconic and acclaimed hairdressers, the wonderful Vidal Sassoon CBE at the age of 84.

Last year Vidal Sassoon was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by University of the Arts London at whose graduation ceremony he addressed LCF students via a filmed interview conducted by Head of College, Professor Frances Corner, OBE.

Mr Sassoon was a loyal supporter of LCF and worked tirelessly to support new talent both in hairdressing and fashion. LCF students and staff were lucky enough to be able to welcome Sassoon to the College in 2009 when he met with Foundation Degree Fashion Styling and Photography students and launched Cuts, Curls and Crimpers, a year-long celebration of hair.

It was a great privilege for all at the College to be in his company, a truly generous, warm and inspiring man and we know that his ground breaking work will be celebrated and studied at LCF for years to come.

• View the images from the launch of Cuts, Curls and Crimpers

The certificate awarded to LCF for the WGSN Digital Presentation Award

Every year the British Fashion Council run a Graduates Preview day for the fashion industry to get the first look at design graduates from that academic year.

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Be part of the LCF 2012 campaign

Following a successful casting in February where we selected models for the catwalk and editorial shoots we are now holding another open casting on Saturday 26 May 2012 exclusively to find catwalk models.

We are looking for people like YOU (male and female) to walk the runway in one of the highest profile graduate showcases in the UK: our BA runway show on 28 June.

2011 street cast model Madeline on the catwalk last year

We love individuality, we love image, we love uniqueness, we just want to see more of it in the fashion industry – we know things are changing but we’re not willing to wait – our students are the fashion industry of tomorrow. We say homogeneous fashion images are for the faint hearted. We will create events and editorials that are alive and reflect how much LCF loves fashion and loves the people that can make it happen. To do this we need YOU.

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Iconic British boxing brand Lonsdale today announced an exciting new partnership with LCF. Second year students on the BA (Hons) Fashion Sportswear course will be challenged to design a collection for the brand as part of their assessment. A judging panel will select a winning collection to go into production, which will be retailed in over 400 sportsdirect.com stores around the country.

Sarah Baker, Marketing Manager at Lonsdale said:

We at Lonsdale are very excited about the project with London College of Fashion as we hope it will take the brand in a more style led direction that hasn’t been seen from the brand since the 1960’s when it was popular with high profile personalities such as Paul Weller and Tony Curtis. We hope that the student’s collections will be innovative and inspiring, reflecting exciting new concepts that will attract a new target market for the brand.

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Deborah Landis before her talk at LCF

Last week Professor Deborah Landis, film and theatre costume designer, gave a talk to costume and fashion students covering her career which includes notable films as Animal House, Three Amigos, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Deborah is a professor at University of the Arts London and curator of ‘Hollywood Costume’, the much anticipated V&A exhibition which will be the largest of its kind in decades.

This event is launches a series of talks titled Marking the Paradigm Shift in Design for Performance Through Costume organised by Donatella Barbieri for the Research Hub in Performance, LCF.

Future events will include masterclasses with Nicky Gillibrand, at the V&A on 22nd May, and Dr Melissa Trimingham in July at the Barbican.