Exploring London through Textiles
Lower Sixth Textiles students travelled to London earlier this week, to explore the array of research opportunities for their individual Personal Investigation coursework projects.
Highlights of our first day of the trip included a walking tour of Columbia Road Flower Market, Brick Lane and Spitalfields, which all provided a backdrop for vibrant photography, whilst the Tate Modern enabled the students to focus on key pieces of interest to their own studies.
On day two, the students focussed on further in-depth research specific to their individual interests. The Alexander McQueen Untold Stories exhibition was a particular highlight where the students could see the innovative design process and the stages of making and construction of the final garments, that are presented at London Fashion Week. Being able to closely inspect the pieces, photograph and sketch them provided lots of inspiration for all.
A visit to the design house of Christopher Raeburn gave the students an excellent insight into sustainability with many pieces made from up-cycled parachutes, and at the iconic V&A History of Fashion exhibition, the students explored changing garment silhouettes, as well as fabric choices throughout the decades with each student focusing on a particular era of interest.
Our final stop, The Natural History Museum provided lots of colour and pattern inspiration; from meteorites to fossils and insects. From this inspiration the students will develop patterns, prints and fabric embellishments for their own collection of fashion designs.
Mrs Jo Bishop
Head of Textiles