GFW catwalk from Northumbria University

It was refreshing to see several strong menswear collections on the GFW catwalk from Northumbria University. The  first being from Deborah Harkin’s, which had a masculine feel with tailored refinement. The velvet corded trousers stood contrast against animal skins and fleece. The muted colour palette really complimented to variety of materials used in her collection. Jenni Moore’s menswear collection had a strong sports luxe influence with cleverly structured pieces, with a range of silhouette’s and texture peppered throughout. The stand out menswear collection for me was the last of the show from Carl James Illingworth; The rock n’ roll attitude was portayed in the collection through a dark colour pallette. He showed a very high level of detail and craftsmanship which complimented an already flawless combination of classic tailoring with a more contempary take on silhouette. Items had pearl detailing and embellishment set amongst an array of fabrication and layering.
Womenswear also had some strong collections, Jennifer Broom where femininity and military were combined..it was a refreshing take on a over-done trend where beautiful drape and volume, created a parachute like silhouette which was captured around the model through harness like detailing. Laura Jane Bailey stood out for innovation of classic sophistication with avant-garde styling.  The stand-out womenswear collection for me came from Charis Younger, the structured pieces really stood in stark contrast yet highlighted the alluring femininity of the collection.  With a combination of thick wool and leathers for outerwear perfectly complimented delicate pleating and chiffon,  a very well put together collection ‘The Human Versus the Machine’.Carl James Illingworth

Charis Younger

Debroah Harkin

Words: Ashleigh Kate Meller