The future of Australian fashion was on display at the University of Technology this week, with 17 graduates showcasing collections of six looks each at a special runway on campus.
The Honours showcase spotlights graduate students who recently completed their Bachelor of Fashion and Textiles Design Honours Program at UTS.
The emerging designers worked tirelessly to create pieces that not only reflect their personal style but also address contemporary issues in the fashion industry, such as sustainability, inclusivity and technological innovation.
Over 200 fashion industry, media and tastemakers gathered at the showcase runway event.
Strategic industry partnerships with local and international industry bodies provide students with opportunities to experiment with innovative technologies and materials.
Historic textile house Liberty London again partnered with UTS providing two sponsorships for Honours students. Ashleigh Abboud explored kitsch and camp sentimentality and feminine iconography across machine and hand knit and overprinting using Liberty prints, while Mia Sutherland also created her collection exploring print and colour, empowerment and female perception utilising several prints from Liberty.
Kullu Karishma - an artisanal weaving company in the foothills of the Himalayas - awarded Giovanna De Pontes the 2024 Kullu Weave Sponsorship, providing her with support and Kullu’s hand-loomed angora wool, adding to her unconventional wool men's suiting influenced by her Brazilian heritage, and inspired by the Congolese sapeurs.
Australian knitwear manufacturer Calcoup sponsored Alannah Walton’s collection ‘The Ties that Bind’, utilising an innovative trompe l’oeil of a photographic jacquard knit based on a close up of a cable knit. The knitting business also sponsored Charlotte Gentry, contributing jacquart knit fabrications, which were then integrated with photography and natural fibre digital printing and UV image prints.
Sophie Woods, Savannah Sandilands, Abigail Ardron and Ethan Bergersen were awarded the Australian Wool Education Trust (AWET) sponsorship, assisting the students in sourcing and purchasing wool fabrics to explore the creative and conceptual potential of wool through their research and design.
Ethan created his own ethical leather from wool, developing a unique textile to reimagine the human form as animal-human hybrid. Sophie, Savannah and Abigail utilised natural fibre wool to focus on materiality and sustainability, Savannah exploring a farm to fashion model in complex, innovative fine machine knit techniques and a dark, unconventional aesthetic.
Phillippa Singorelli, Cathy Chow, Anika Bharadwaj and Shari Oh were this year’s recipients of the Shima Seiki Wholegarment Knitting Machine Sponsorship, creating bespoke patterns knitted on the company’s knitting machine at the UTS Advanced Fabrication Research Laboratory. The technology enables a knitted garment to be produced in one entire piece, three-dimensionally, directly on the knitting machine.
Student Suzaan Stander and Abbey Hoy were both awarded the opportunity to work under leather couture designer Julio Valdes as the recipient of a sponsorship to develop refined leather pieces.
“Our Honours year is a capstone year designed to elevate students' creative practice, critical thinking, and professional capabilities,” UTS Fashion & Textiles Design course director Alyssa Choat said.
“It focuses on independent research, advanced design development, and industry readiness. Each year we have around 20 students, who undertake an individual design research project, which is the core focus of the year.”
For this year’s event, Choat said the show had a strong focus on creative womenswear, exploring concepts of feminine archetypes, hybrid monstrous bodies, digital fashion photography, critiquing fashion production practices and AI-generated imagery.
“They expressed these ideas across textiles development, and shape exploration, creating cohesive and unified 6-look collections,” Choat said.
“What is different about this year's runway is the sensitivity to fashion and creative wearable design. Students had a strong connection to the body and colour exploration.
“There was a strong focus on relating to the fashion industry and offering creative and progressive fashion ideas that are emblematic of the Australian fashion industry.”
During the program, students were also visited by local and globally renowned industry figures who hosted guest lectures and tutorials throughout the program This included The Volte chief strategy and brand officer and former Harper’s BAZAAR Australia editor-in-chief Kellie Hush, Delta Global founder and CEO Robert Lockyer, Romance Was Born founders Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales, and creative director and stylist Peter Simon Phillips
The UTS Fashion Honours Graduate program has heralded past alumni including established Australian designers such as Bec+Bridge, Alix Higgins, Caroline Reznik and three out of four of the Next Gen awarded at Australian Fashion Week in 2023 - Cameron Hill, Ruby Pedder, Xixi Wu. Former students are also currently working within local and international fashion houses such as P.E Nation, Isabel Marant and Kenzo.
In addition, 2023 Honours Graduate Alex Enticknap was recently awarded the Australian Fashion Foundation 2024 scholarship in New York.