L'OREAL winner Rok Hwang

The hot ticket each A/W London Fashion Week, CSM’s MA Fashion catwalk 2010 was described by SHOWstudio as an “indicator of trends past present and future” and a “barometer of London cool”, calling the graduates  “the world’s most plugged-in”. This year’s show ranged from star-studded maxi tube dresses by Rok Hwang, who won the L’Oreal Professional Award, to the clean tailored minimalism of Jackie Lee and elegant layers of Lilly Heine, who jointly won the Harrod’s Design Award. See the coverage here.

HARRODS winner Jackie JS Lee

CSM’s MA Fashion course is the only one to show during London Fashion Week each February. Former students who have gone on to establish their own labels  showing during the week included Ann-Sofie Back, Ashish, Basso & Brooke, Bora Aksu, Christopher Kane, Christopher Shannon, Danielle Scutt, David Koma, Eley Kishimoto, Emma Cook, Eun Jeong,  Jonathan Saunders, Krystof Strozyna, Louise Goldin, Louise Gray, Maria Pepe, Marios Schwab, Mark Fast, Mary Katrantzou, Michael Van Der Ham, Natascha Stolle, Omar Kashoura, Peter Jensen, Richard Nicoll, Roksanda Ilincic and Todd Lyn. Read the reports on SHOWstudio, Dazed Digital and Vogue.

This year’s MA catwalk show began with a tribute to Lee Alexander McQueen, a graduate of the class of 1992. Jane Rapley, who was Dean of the School of Fashion and Textiles during his studies there, stated “His collections were always exceptional – innovative, inspirational and dazzlingly beautiful. He will be a great loss to the fashion industry and to all of us who admired him and loved his work.” Professor Louise Wilson OBE, who taught McQueen, recalls in CSM Time “Like any other student, he was extremely hard working – obsessed with his vision and what he was doing. He was very tactile with fabrics, was truly innovative, was able to take risks and took a totally modern approach. One of his pieces had magazine articles papier-mached onto a burnt calico skirt, which was exquisite.” For him CSM was where he had the freedom to “block off commercialism and do it from the heart.”

The fashion weeks in all the major cities honoured McQueen’s genius and mourned his loss. During Paris Fashion Week there was an intimate presentation of his final collection. See all the works on the Daily Telegraph and read the report on the Guardian. A testament to a visionary talent, McQueen’s incredible archive can be seen on the Alexander McQueen website.

Chelsea’s Parade Ground played host to Burberry when they made London Fashion Week history, live streaming their catwalk show in 3D. Over 1,000 guests gathered in the pouring rain to watch the A/W ’10 show in a specially constructed arena on the Parade Ground. The front row (aka “frow”) included Kate Hudson, Anna Wintour, Mary-Kate Olsen, Clare Danes and Kristen Stewart. Burberry invited ten textiles students to the catwalk event. See all the action again on Sky News.

At New York Fashion Week, Jenny Packham bursary winner Wes Gordon was the one to watch. The emerging designer, who graduated from CSM BA Fashion Womenswear in 2009, showed his first collection during NYFW A/W 2010. The New York Times raved “A shout-out for newcomer Wes Gordon… In a small presentation, he had some very well done jackets that blended wool, leather and panels of beaded chiffon. I especially liked a belted black jacket with full sleeves that sort of dimpled at the back of the wrists, and a swingy charcoal coat with silver fox sleeves and a big, generous tie looping at the neck. He seems to have a good eye for detail and proportion, and the workmanship is tops.” Read more.

The stand out star of Paris Fashion Week was CSM grad Phoebe Philo’s understated perfection at Celine. Having made her name at Chloe, the designer has a welcome return as head designer at Celine and the critics  raved about her new collection for the French fashion house. Grazia has the full scoop on her triumphant return. Read the “must buy” reviews of the show on Vogue, SHOWstudio and Dazed Digital.