A shopper using the technology

LCF students are encouraged to go and check out the new Virtual Fashion Mirrors which can be found on the 1st floor of John Lewis’s flagship London department store on Oxford Street. Designed to help shoppers determine which styles and colours work best for them in an efficient, yet experiential way, the mirrors superimpose clothing over the customer’s on-screen image.

The John Lewis StyleMe mirrors, developed by technology specialist Cisco, in-conjunction with C-instore, Aitech and The Team, each have built in cameras which capture a shoppers body dimensions and position.

M&S logo

Calling all LCF students!

Sign up to come to the Sustainable Fashion Lab at Dray Walk Gallery, Brick Lane 3pm this Friday, 27 April and we will give you £25 to go out over the weekend and find an amazing, vintage M&S garment. Bring back the garment to Dray Walk 11am Monday 30 April and tell us where you found it.

Your piece will be curated into the exhibition at Dray Walk Gallery with your name as the finder attached. Your piece may also be selected to be included in the M&S archive.

To confirm a place in this challenge email your name, course and contact number to r.cuoco@fashion.arts.ac.uk

Please note that you need to be a current LCF student and be free to attend workshops at Dray Walk Gallery at 3pm Friday 27 April AND 11am Monday 30 April.

• More about our M&S Sustainable Fashion Lab collaboration

This week is ORCHID Male Cancer Awareness Week (23-29 April) and to kick off proceedings we’re really excited to share with you an exclusive behind the scenes film about the launch of this year’s winning T-Shirt designed by BA (Hons) Fashion Illustration student Sasha Helim, which is AVAILABLE now in HOUSE OF FRASER Stores across the UK.

Each year over 37,000 men will be diagnosed with a male-specific cancer; from sons to grandfathers all men face the risk of prostate, penile or testicular cancer. Here at LCF, for the second year in a row, we teamed up with ORCHID and Raging Bull to brief all three years from BA (Hons) Fashion Illustration to design an iconic T-Shirt which encourages the men in our lives to check themselves regularly and to help raise vital funds for ORCHID, who are the UK’s leading charity fighting against male cancer.

To get involved follow ORCHID through Twitter and help them reach 1,000 followers this week and make sure you get down to House of Fraser to grab your very own T-Shirt as modelled by a gorgeous line up of guys including model BB Kaye and TV presenter Matt Johnson.

Check back this week for more information on London College of Fashion’s collaboration, including the high profile fashion judging panel and celebrity shoot.

• Buy a T-shirt from House of Fraser
• Read more about Orchid Male Cancer and the charity’s fantastic work
• Follow Orchid on Twitter to get them to 1,000 followers!

Esmerelda Turquoise A/W11

LCF alumna Cleo Barbour has been announced as a finalist  for the Best Footwear Designer of the Year in the Drapers Footwear and Accessories awards 2012.

Other LCF alumni who have been shortlisted are Nicholas Kirkwood, Kat Maconie, Charlotte Olympia and Chi ‘Cherry’ Yuen (who only graduated from MA Fashion Footwear in 2012).

The awards will be announced on 3rd May – Good Luck to all the LCF nominees!

• Footwear courses at LCF
• Accessories courses at LCF

The BA (Hons) Fashion Sportswear course is gearing up for London 2012. We spoke to 2 students who are getting involved.

Work from Annette Mazinyi's sketch book

Annette Mazinyi was inspired to fuse her passion for winter sports with an interest in pioneering technology for her final year collection. Solar Epiphany is snowboard-wear designed with solar panels integrated into the fabric. The solar panels are then used to charge mobile devices used in everyday life such as smart phones and tablets.

Annette said:

I am really excited about the Olympics happening in London. It’s bringing a new dimension to what I do as a designer. When you actually get into the depth of what’s involved in designing sportswear, it’s really eye-opening. London 2012 is educating people more about sport and hopefully, being a designer, there will be more demand for jobs for people like me when I graduate. The Olympics has been a really big advantage for garnering interest in projects like Solar Epiphany.

• Read the full interview with Annette Mazinyi

Alasdair's designs for the LiveView project

Last year Alasdair Leighton Crawford was chosen to represent Sony Ericsson and the LiveView Design Project at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas and to showcase his motion responsive cycle jacket. As well as winning plaudits for his design skills, he also has a history of rowing for Great Britain – a perfect platform to launch a career in sportswear.

For me Sportswear Design is my Olympic Games, and through success has the potential to make a positive and continued impact on people’s lives.

From 2005 to 2008 Alasdair was a professional athlete and competed at World Cups, World and European Championships. Always interested in creating and designing, Alasdair secured work placements on Savile Row. When a back injury meant that he had to retire from competitive sport, he realised that sportswear was what he was most passionate about.

• Read the full interview with Alasdair Leighton Crawford
• Read more on the UAL 2012 blog
• BA (Hons) Fashion Sportswear course information

Work from Jayden Tang

In February, the World Photography Organisation announced the shortlist for the 2012 Sony World Photography Awards. Billed as the global photographic event of the year, the Sony World Photography Awards celebrate the very best in photography from around the world, from the next generation of emerging photographers through to the established masters of the art.

2010 MA Fashion Photography graduate Jayden Tang has been announced as a finalist in the fashion category. The winners will be announced on 26th April. Following on from the winners announcement, an exhibition, showcasing the work of all the finalists, will take place at Somerset House until 20 May 2012.

• View Jayden Tang’s Showtime profile
• MA Fashion Photography course information
• Read more about the Sony World Photography Awards
• Read more about the exhibition at Somerset House

A BA (Hons) Fashion Contour student presenting her design 'Butterfly Wings'

Student presenting her design 'Eastern Art meets Western Skin'

BA Fashion Contour students presented their final designs to a panel of representatives from lingerie brand, Triumph, at LCF this morning. Students from LCF’s specialist course have been invited to compete for the second time in the Triumph Inspiration Awards following some strong design work being submitted last year. The theme for this years competition is ‘Dragons and Butterflies’.

The Triumph Inspiration Awards curates the most innovative and inspirational lingerie designs and provides a prestigious platform to showcase them firstly on a national level, then secondly on a global level.

The students that are short listed at today’s judging session will be added to an international collection of designs that will be open for a public vote via Facebook. An announcement about this stage of the competition will be made soon.

• BA (Hons) Fashion Contour
• Read about the 2011 Triumph Inspiration Award

Zoe (left) and Sara (right) hard at work at TheMuse.tv launch party. Images courtesy of Themuse.tv

Last month, London College of Fashion students lent their creative magic to help launch new fashion website TheMuse.tv, a new fashion community for young women with blogs, videos competitions and more.

LCF students were tasked with helping to set the creative fashion atmosphere, customising T-shirts for the industry, press and VIP guests in attendance at stations with fabrics, paints, sewing machines and more all provided for them.

Sara Arnesén, currently studying BA (Hons) Fashion Design Technology Womenswear, Zoe Sterling BA (Hons) Fashion Design Technology Surface Textiles and Scarlett Giannakou, BA (Hons) Fashion Illustration also showcased their work in glass cabinets at the venue, along with their inspirational sketchbooks.

Scarlett (seated) with guests queuing up to get unique T-shirts. Image courtesy of Themuse.tv

Zoe, currently in her second year, specialising in embroidery said:

It was very exciting to work where there was such a lively atmosphere which was focused around new talent and fashion. Creating something that guests could take away as a memento from the evening, and be able to put in their own wardrobe, was an honour as I haven’t even graduated yet!

Scarlett added:

I wanted to be involved because it looked like an exciting up and coming website with great editors such as the famous blogger Simon Glazin from The Very Simon .G and for fashionistas of all trends. The night was amazing and I was swamped with requests for the t-shirts and illustrations – as well as from  a few famous faces. I enjoyed the fast paced environment and thought it was a great way to network.

Sara, also in her second year of study also added:

I really enjoyed the experience, not only was it a fun event to attend but also a great opportunity to network, meet new people and showcase my work.

LCF student work on display at the launch party. Image courtesy of Themuse.tv

• Have a look at TheMuse.tv launch film to see our students in action

Image from TOMS Eyewear Catalogue

Students on the BA (Hons) Creative Direction for Fashion course are being given the opportunity to design a visually inspiring TOMS window display on one of London’s busiest shopping streets. Two students will be selected by a panel of LCF experts and representatives from TOMS. The winners will each take a two-week slot across both shop front window spaces during the final 4-weeks of the Pop-up shop.

This project celebrates the TOMS pop-up shop, but is also part of their One for One campaign for their new eyewear range. With every pair purchased, TOMS will help give sight to a person in need. As more everyday choices have the power to impact the lives of those around the world, the TOMS movement will continue to grow and evolve.

• Learn more on the TOMS blog
• BA (Hons) Creative Direction for Fashion
• TOMS Eyewear

Left to right; Andrew Hughes form LCF, Nick Robertson from ASOS and George Davies, founder of Next.

Four MA Strategic Fashion Marketing students were announced as the winners of the ‘Brand Britain’ collaboration between London College of Fashion and Retail Week. The winning students, Dorcas Kissi, Shivani Patel, Carolina Lopez Suarez and Lucy Elliott presented concepts that linked iconic British brand Temperley, to the London 2012 Olympics and ‘Brand Britain’. (more…)