AIU Fashion Show: Structure

While the country nurses a pounding student-protest hangover and wonders how the hell everything went so wrong on that December day, fashionistas in attendance at a festive AIU fashion show are wondering just how everything went so right!

Forget the protests – one of biggest fashion events in London this December was the American Intercontinental Uni’s experimental fashion show. This year’s theme was ‘Structure’ and it has taken me a fair time to fully absorb everything that was thrown down the catwalk runway…

… and I still can’t help but feel like I was witnessing a little bit of fashion’s future.

It wouldn’t be crazy to think so: the AIU has produced Sky 1 Project Runway winners and – among others – careers with Matthew Williamson, Hugo Boss and Vivienne Westwood.

From what I saw walking down the runway the future looks exciting, eclectic and – well – pointy!

Structure is perhaps the last thing you notice when you’re browsing the clothes racks for something cool and chic for the weekend: instead it’s the usual colour, material and pattern that are a cause for concern.

This time geometry, gradient, angles and a little mathematics were the main focus for the students’ catwalk collections. Think loose leggings with angled thigh wings, heavily-textured ’60s sweaters and folded filled pockets and you’ve got the gist of it.

For the females it was a case of high-waist bottoms – cutting angles across the body – and super-high busts held firmly in place with horny pointy corsets. Gold and black seemed to take a front-row seat and some of the costumes were even shaped into budding flowers complete with red-blushed rose petals.

For the men it was a case of keeping things black: see-through tops and extra-wide blazer lapels were in abundance. The students even managed to throw a little festivity into the mix: dress skeletons – usually reserved for the mannequins – were merrily walked down the runway.

The longer more-extravagant eveningwear dresses were by far the highlight of the show and Kelly Hulderman’s signature torn-paper piece was a show-stopper. The garment obviously drew on the idea of origami and the crate paper-esque flow of the dress made for a real jaw-dropper.

The evening was excellently put on by PR firm Eden CanCan: the champagne was flowing and the names were dropping. Throw in the luxury setting of Mayfair’s Music Room and the night had a real New York Fashion Week vibe.

Pop along to the next one. If it’s anything like Structure it will be for a good cause as well!

And remember: the next time you’re browsing the store shelves for Boxing Day deals think about the structure of your next signature piece…

Structure is for life, people – not just for Christmas.

The American Intercontinental University (AIU) London Fashion Show took place on Thursday 9 December, 2010, at:

The Music Room
26 South Molton Lane
Mayfair
W1K 5AB