Fashion Society is a weekly club run by Sixth Form students, Mrs Gilbert, and is open to students from Years 8 to 10.

The Society provides students who have an interest in fashion design and garment construction with the opportunity to acquire skills from students and teaching staff, as well as learning to work in collaboration with pupils from other year groups. The students conceive an idea for their collection as a group and then work individually on their own unique design, considering all aspects such as garment shape, fabric choices and a colour palette that will work with the whole collection. Once designs have been drafted, the students develop print designs and consider embellishments such as embroidery and fabric manipulation in order to further develop their skills and enhance their designs.

How the final pieces will look on the catwalk is always a key consideration and they have to be sure that the colours and prints used will have a strong visual impact. Once designs have been finalised the students draft their pattern blocks and begin the construction of their garments. This is a nerve-racking but exciting time, as some of the students have not used sewing machines before, and it can feel a little daunting at first. Once over that initial hurdle, seeing their designs move from paper into real wearable garments is hugely rewarding and the girls take great pride in their creations. The final element is devising and creating a video that is shown as a backdrop for their catwalk. The students choose their song and in collaboration with a Sixth Former they come up with a concept for their video. Once this has been created, they choreograph their walk, in preparation for the main event.

This year’s group explored the overriding Fashion Show theme of structures from an anatomical perspective, gathering inspiration from blood vessels, bones and organs. The collection incorporated a variety of garments that link to the complex structure of the human body. Materials they used incorporated the smoothness of bodily structures such as bones, as well as creating textured surfaces that emulated the bodies inner structure. They utilised a monochrome palette with flashes of crimson and blue to highlight veins and blood vessels, and metallic placement prints of hearts, lungs and kidneys were used to convey the idea of the organs materialising on the exterior of the body.