FUZE 2019: EDEN | Final Show

Eden. The world’s most famous garden deemed to be Earth’s paradise and the setting for this year’s show. In order to really say something with this, the Creative Directors came up with a loose narrative framework following through from ‘creation’ to ‘destruction’ and finally ‘redemption’. This is not only meant to be a comment on the current climate emergency, but also offers an optimistic vision for a future in which we as humans can learn to work with the natural world. We want to situate ourselves within a wider biosphere consciousness and appreciate the interconnectedness and implications of our actions in relation to the rest of the planet.

In our marketing and aesthetic for the show we have taken elements of Eden, both literal and abstract, and created a body of work that speaks to the ethos of both our charity 'City to Sea' and committee across multiple platforms.

Our ‘Creation’ campaign was designed to look at the symbiotic relationship between humans and the natural world, with emphasis on the concept of ‘home’. We used our models as children of nature to illustrate how we have lost touch with our roots.

Following on from this, our ‘Jungle’ campaign was a far bolder and editorial take on the beauty of nature. This was about the empowerment we can gain from our environment, emphasising how beautiful and diverse our planet is. Whoever said environmentalism had to be boring?!

With City to Sea’s ‘PlasticFreePeriods’ campaign in mind; we then took to the metaphor ‘Mother Nature’. This shoot looked into eco-feminism through the lens of ‘Gaia’ among other goddesses of nature. Not only is this a comment on consumer culture, but it is also looks at the power of women in this rising activist movement.

Finally, we were lucky enough to be able to shoot with and exhibit three looks by eco-designer Linda Thomas in this year’s show. Linda is unique in that she makes stunning clothes from the materials she gathers on her beach clean ups. This is very much in line with the concept of ‘redemption’, illustrating how from the harm we have done the planet thus far something beautiful can still emerge. In short, Eden lives amongst us.