Fashion Week Wales

For several decades now, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design has developed a global reputation for pushing the boundaries of fashion. For the lucky few who pass through its doors, a degree from CSM culminates in the highly-anticipated press show, which is a platform for CSM’s brightest stars to shine. Here are three of their graduates to keep a look out for. 

One of the top new names to watch is South African born Drew Henry, whose graphic minimalist collection had CSM insiders and students buzzing even before today’s big show. Henry studied at a technical fashion school specialising in commercial pattern cutting and sewing. He left South Africa and enrolled in CSM’s Fashion Design, Henry’s graduate collection entitled, Intersections. takes inspiration from the indigenous Ndebele and Shangaan people, these influences are all evident in the menswear-inspired suiting, utilitarian cuts, animal skins and beading. Wide-legged pants and boxy tops are constructed from heavyweight canvas and brightly dyed springbok hides, also indigenous to South Africa. Overall, it’s a original and cohesive collection.

Edeline Lee debuted her eponymous line for Spring 2012 during London Fashion Week with a stunning collection of mostly dresses with several tops and below-the-knee skirts included for good measure. Inspired by the stately Palais Soctlet in Brussels, the collection is full of structured lines and geometric patterns. With a color palette ranging from hints of coral, sea blues and greens to black, white and grey, the clothes emit a fun, light mood combined with serious, sophisticated wearability. The London-based designer boasts a rather impressive résumé, as a Central Saint Martins grad having apprenticed for Alexander McQueen and JohnGalliano, in addition to working as Zac Posen’s first assistant. This Designer is definitely one to watch.

Menswear designer Craig Green may have only just finished his MA in fashion design at Central Saint Martins, but the 25-year old is already turning heads. “I just found fashion accidentally through meeting people, I didn’t know anything about it at all.” Green tried his hand at womenswear. By the time he reached his MA, he had decided to focus on textiles and menswear. The concept of light and dark is an important theme in Green’s collection. Each look he created in cream or tie-dye printed cotton has an all-black twin that’s meant to represent a shadow. However, it is the concept of utility and function that is, perhaps, most apparent, thanks to the papier-mâché luggage and industrial wooden structures that are paired with his looks. “They were inspired by luggage carriers and nomads,” says Green, adding, “the structures have connotations of religious pilgrimage and they dwarf the models, creating abstract, almost menacing silhouettes.”