Fashion design students at Griffith College were asked to create skirts inspired by architectural line. Well built, writes Deirdre McQuillan.
Skirts inspired by iconic Irish architecture. That was the challenging starting project for the 15 first-year fashion students on Dublin's new honours degree course at Griffith College. It was an apt choice as fashion and architecture are interweaving in new ways these days. Recent major US exhibitions such as The Fashion of Architecture in New York and Skin & Bones in Los Angeles have explored the relationship between the two, and high profile architects such as Zaha Hadid, for example, are using forms and techniques more familiar to fashion than to building. Techniques such as pleating, spirals and folding are being used in everything from bridges to ballgowns.
Students took their architectural cues for the "Waist Down" project from mostly Dublin landmarks, from the IFSC and the Georges Street Arcade, to Collins Barracks, the Dell Building in the Cherrywood Industrial Estate, and even their own college.
These are the results, and with one exception, the skirts are short, shapely and often scissored into triangular, spherical or diagonal shapes. A puffball skirt reflecting the volume and structure of the Hugh Lane Gallery, an appliquéd full skirt inspired by the vaulted ceilings of Christ Church Cathedral, and a black tulle bustle inspired by a Victorian arcade are some examples of the students' imaginative approaches to the challenge.
Central to Griffith College's ambitious new course is an educational approach based on modern fashion's broader applications, with the emphasis on both the creative and business sides of the industry. With home-based manufacturing in decline, the course is aimed at equipping its alumni for a changing international landscape and for careers in related occupations such as fashion illustration, costume design, image consultancy or styling.
Students learn how to design and make clothes, but also about how to use CAD (computer-aided design) systems, manage off-shore facilities, fashion buying, trend forecasting and communication skills. When they have completed their first two years, they can elect to study at the NABA institute in Milan for a year and immerse themselves in Italian culture. Italian lessons will be offered in advance.
The philosophy behind the course, according to its director, Jane Leavey, a fashion designer with international experience, "is to nurture student creativity, encourage original ideas through innovation and experimentation and at the same develop professional training skills relevant to current industry design practice."
For Amy Lynam, one of the students, part of the attraction of the course was the Italian component, along with the opportunity to mix with students from other disciplines such as photography. "It's very hard work and you need to be dedicated, but I have learnt a lot of new skills. Everybody on the course has a passion for fashion. I think that although fashion can be seen as commercial, it is also creative and can be art."