East meets West with the White Dress
A simple white dress gets a colourful makeover thanks to an innovative international collaboration between Southampton Solent University and the Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI).
Over the summer, BA (Hons) Fashion Styling students from Southampton Solent University and fashion image design students at HKDI were given the opportunity to explore creativity across cultures through the common ground of the White Dress.
Students were given identical copies of a collection of 17 white dresses and asked to create styled images.
In some of the images the different cultural influences are evident, with elements of kitsch and harajuku – a sub-culture popular with Hong Kong youth – represented, as well more traditional elements such as marriage.
Some students draw upon social themes such as toxicity, materialism and the unrest of 1980s England; while other work is more abstract or surreal, taking inspiration from spiritual figures.
Jennifer Anyan, Fashion and Media Styling Programme Leader at Southampton Solent University and visiting fellow of the HDKI, says: “The diverse ways that the White Dress is customised, accessorised and situated demonstrates the scope of the stylist’s role in defining how clothing communicates. The only common thread connecting the students’ work, besides the dresses themselves, is the imagination and exuberance they show.”
Students from Solent University’s BA (Hons) Fashion Photography, BA (Hons) Photography and BA (Hons) Make-up and Hair Design, worked with the design teams to produce the stunning images featured in a publication celebrating the final designs.
As well as the production of the White Dress Project publication, a selection of the final images will be exhibited both in Southampton and Hong Kong. They will be on display at Re:So store, the University’s student-run retail project, based at The Marlands Shopping Centre from 31 October to 6 November 2013.
The collection of designs from the White Dress project is available to download now.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT THE MEDIA OFFICE ON 023 8031 9079
Notes to editors:
About Southampton Solent University
Southampton Solent University offers more than 23,000 students over 200 qualifications ranging from HND to PhD, in subjects such as maritime education and training, fashion and design, media and television, music, health, sport and leisure, business, IT and technology. The university was awarded the 2013 Quality Assurance kitemark for quality and standards of teaching and learning. Solent was voted one of the most creative universities in the UK in a Which? University 2013 poll of students.
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