Friday, July 10, 2009

Work in Progress

This blog is being revamped and will be back in 2010. We hope to see you then.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

UCA Rochester launches new Fashion Textiles course

The Fashion department at UCA Rochester have added a new course to its glittering portfolio. A Fashion Textiles course will be introduced in September to meet growing demands for research, visual, creative and practical skills. The course will focus specifically on printed textiles within a contemporary design environment. Students will produce design for print which be used for the catwalk, they will also work on accessories as well as fashion led interiors. So if you are looking for a course in printed surface design which develops your fashion skills and explores the exciting potential that comes with combining traditional skills along with the latest digital technology then this is for you.

Please direct all enquiries to radeyemi@ucreative.ac.uk.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Xmas

The picture says it all. Merry Xmas from everyone at UCA Rochester and I wish you all the best for 2009!!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Wonderland


At the Overlap fashion show last month, Fashion Promotions student, Meg Shipley won an award for the Fashion in Film competition in partnership with UEDA college in Japan. I caught up with her to find out about the film and her prize that includes a trip to Japan.

Describe the concept of the film.
Ok, so the challenge was to make a short film featuring a garment designed by a student from UEDA in Japan to be shown at the London fashion show last week. I’m not going to lie, I was inspired by the work of fashion photographer Tim Walker - I went to an exhibition of his a week earlier and thought his stuff was pretty awesome. So I decided to go with a “Wonderland” theme - kind of Alice in Wonderland meets the Garden of Eden. I actually made up a lot of the film as it went on, but the overall idea was that the character would be wondering through a surreal place, eat a poison apple and turn into a mentalist!

How long did it take you to make?
In total, I spent a day preparing the set and filming, and then it took me a further week to put it all together.

You are on work placement at the moment, can you tell us who it is with and how you are finding it?
Unfortunately, I couldn't make the show as I’m on work experience and had to stay late. I’m working at Rizvi Millinery, basically making couture head wear which is pretty cool stuff! I love it, and my sewing skills are vastly improving even though I got a beast of a burn from the steamer yesterday.

When do you plan to take your trip to Japan?
I’m not sure when the trip is taking place but hopefully early next year. I actually can’t wait, Japan’s always been on my wishlish!

The film is part of the work you do on the Fashion Promotion course, tell us about the other topics that you study.
Making this film has prepared me for our next project brief, The Cut where it’s a similar concept. I think Fashion Promotion gets a bit of grief about being a doss course but it isn’t at all. We study the art of portraying fashion through styling, journalism and PR and it enables us to constantly stretch the imagination by making entire magazines, promotional films, and even organising events like Graduate Fashion Week.

What do you hope to do after the course?
I’m not sure what I’m going to do after the course, now I have a taste for film making we’ll have to see. Although working with a milliner has really inspired me to get more hands on so who knows?

You can check out the film, Wonderland above.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

ARCH

We normally see churches as dull and uninspiring places that we are dragged to by our parents when we are young. Grey, bleek and cold the buildings often offer very purpose aside from the odd wedding and christening. However over the last few years we have seen the place of worship being used for more arty activities such as fashion shows. For instance alumni Jatin Patel used St Pancras church to launch his new collection at London Fashion Week and The Old Spitalfied church was the venue for the UEDA and UCA fashion show a few weeks back. One person who has taken the use of churches to a new level is Tim Meacham who is better known as course leader of BA Hons in Creative and Technical Practice.

Art in Churches (ARCH) is a project that revives redundant medieval churches by restoring them and featuring contemporary artwork. Four churches in Hoo were chosen to feature projects by contemporary artists in installation, photography, painting and textiles. 11 Kent based artist such as Amanda Thesiger, Kathryn Faulkner, Mark Cowper, Sara Wicks, Ian Bottle, John Dargan, Kerrie Nimmo, Sue Dray as well as Tim Meacham produced sculptures, photographs and painting.

Historically, churches were always at the forefront of art, encouraging novel art by commissioning leading artists of the day. In providing artists an opportunity to explore the unique environment in Hoo and by bringing new artwork into these extraordinary buildings, ARCH aims to participate in this long tradition. The chosen artistic disciplines are diverse including installation, photography, painting, sculpture and textiles. The exhibits seek to engage with the public and create an ongoing dialogue between contemporary art and the public spaces they occupy.

So good was the venture that it was awarded a trophy for Best Heritage at the recent Medway Culture and Design Awards.

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Jewellery and Display

We all like a bit of bling now and again and show a lady a diamond and she will be yours forever. Artist and Lecturer, Kate Samuels is taking place in a talk about the future of contemporary jewellery. She will be joined by writer and lecturer Lin Cheung, Jeweller, professor of Applied Art and Design in Dusseldorf, Elisabeth Holder, and course leader for MA Contemporary Jewellery at UCA Rochester, Simon Bliss. The Jewellery Symposium takes place on Friday 5th December and will be exploring traditional practices and looking at how we understand jewellery in the modern society.

The event starts at 11.00am and will take place in Lecture Theatre 1.
It is FREE for staff and students.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

A Day in the Life of Karen Millen

Have you ever wondered what successful fashionistas get up to from day to day? Well check out The Sunday Times' piece on A Life in the Day of Karen Millen where she talks about her two charities, HopeHIV and The Gateway School of Fashion. Of course UCA Rochester gets a mention.

Click on this link to read the article.

Picture taken from The Sunday Times website