Did Someone Say - Graduate Fashion Week?

Proudly sponsoring Glasgow School of Art and in partnership with Graduate Fashion Foundation Original Magazine are proud to announce that we are in partnership with Graduate Fashion Foundation for the rest of 2021. We are also proudly sponsoring and in partnership with Glasgow School of Art and their recent fashion graduates that were selected for this year’s Graduate Fashion Week. On the 16th June the Editors and Co-founders of Original Magazine, Michael & Emily were invited to attend exclusively the GFW Collective catwalk show that included the students from Glasgow School of Art, and what a surreal and magnificent day it was. Like many of you, we have been craving the need to attend physical shows and interact and explore art like we used to prior to the pandemic. Whilst it did not have the usual hustle and bustle of previous years with hundreds of attendees, photographers and the graduates viewing their collection the atmosphere was relaxed and filled with excitement. Not only did we get an exclusive opportunity to visit the catwalks… We were also invited to have a private viewing of students portfolio. Held in the Samsung KX building, this location gave us futuristic and ‘portfolios of the future’ vibes, with the students presenting their work across multiple Samsung screens. From tablets, phones, big screens, there was so much to see that having four pairs of eyes, just was not enough! As photographers, we must say that we have always loved holding sketchbooks, portfolio boxes, but seeing each University create their own identity within a digital space was impressive and showcased how well the creative industry can adapt to difficult situations.It also allowed audiences to see how resilient creative students are. In spite of the pandemic and all the lockdowns during 2020/21, each student had created detailed working portfolios, made their collections at home and created home styled shoots. We commend all the graduating students of 2021, not just the fashion students but to all students across all disciplines. University can be hard for many students, let alone trying to navigate through a pandemic. You have shown a real resilience that should not go unnoticed and the team at Original Magazine applauds and congratulates you all. A little note from the editors… We missed seeing and being apart of the usual celebratory buzz we know Graduate Fashion Week to be. We missed seeing students proudly showing their parents around their work, laughing and meeting new people, but this familiarity suddenly came back to us when we were stood outside by the photography exhibition. As we were taking pictures of the photography/styling exhibition outside, we were joined by an excitable group of people, rushing over to one particular image. We soon realised that this was a graduate, presenting their work to their friends ever so proudly. Photos were being taken whilst the graduate posed in front of their work, throwing different shapes as their friends were snapping away, expressing their amazement and support. It brought back very found memories of Graduate Fashion Week before the pandemic. Seeing that moment, filled us with pure joy. It has been a hard eighteen months for us all and being in the presence of this proud graduate, reminded us that there are moments that we can celebrate and we SHOULD celebrate all our achievements however big or small they may seem at the time. We cannot begin to image how hard it must be for the students who were not able to attend Graduate Fashion Week this year and for those who are not being able to have an end of year show. You may not feel like celebrating and it may be hard to find the joy in finishing University this year, but please, celebrate your achievements. Whether its having the opportunity to showcase work at Graduate Fashion Week, or a virtual exhibition, or celebrating the fact you can FINALLY have that lay in! YOU have worked hard this year. YOU handed in your final projects. YOU got shit done. Celebrate these achievements because it has not been a easy ride. Congratulations Class of 2021, YOU DID IT!