BA (Hons) Fashion students have been working hard on an industry directed brief inspired by this year’s Met Gala, which takes place on Monday 4th May the evening celebrates the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s spring exhibition, this year’s exhibition Costume Art will inspire looks from the most famous fashion houses in the world, with designers working closely with famous muses to display their interpretation of the theme. The brief was led by lecturers and Victoria Beckham pattern cutter Hamish Thwaites, and students were tasked with creating Met looks for the VB brand.

Fashion student Kayleigh Laidler said, “The Met Gala is one of my favourite events of the year because I love staying up to see all the looks, designers and how they have interpreted the theme.” Students said they were pushed to look beyond traditional design techniques for this brief. Fellow student Lu Wallace-Hunter explained that the brief “encouraged me to think beyond traditional fashion and focus on garments as a form of artistic expression. I was already aware of the Met Gala and its reputation for bold, theatrical looks, so this brief pushed me to explore more conceptual ideas rather than designing something purely wearable.” Watch the full journey of the four-week project below.

Victoria Beckham & Draping Workshop

“The project was mentored by Hamish Thwaites, a senior pattern cutter at Victoria Beckham, who guided us through the process and introduced us to his draping techniques,” explained student Ebony Chrystal-Murtha. “A key requirement of the brief was to incorporate drape into the final design, encouraging a strong focus on silhouette and form. This pushed me to develop something unique and expressive, particularly through fabric manipulation. Through the project, I developed new technical skills, including draping and working on the bias for the first time, as well as experimenting with delicate fabrics like chiffon. Learning from Hamish also gave me a deeper understanding of how to shape garments directly on the body.”

Kayleigh said, “Hamish explained his fashion journey and how to create garments using drape. Both techniques that he showed us I ended up using in my final piece. I really enjoyed working with Hamish, as he was very knowledgeable and helped us all individually with our ideas.”

Lu found the techniques challenging but worth it she said, “I found this a challenging module, not because of the concept itself but the draping. I had never investigated this before, so everything was a learning curve. The thing I found most challenging was getting the draped garment off the stand and to create a pattern, because of this I had to take extra time to get this right. This paid off and allowed me to understand different ways in which clothes are created. I also think it was an interesting technique I can now incorporate into future projects. I focused really hard taking in everything he was saying to further better my work. I ended up finding myself spending more time focusing on using his tips and tricks to allow me to create something I was proud of. The opportunity was honestly something I was super grateful for. It was incredibly fascinating to be able to take knowledge from someone who knew first-hand what it is like to work in the industry.”

Ebony said, “The workshop was a really eye-opening experience. Learning from Hamish was incredibly inspiring, as he was very attentive and took the time to guide each student individually. It was valuable to gain insight into industry techniques, and it strengthened both my technical skills and understanding of professional design processes. Hearing about his experience at Victoria Beckham also made me more interested in pursuing a role within that kind of environment.”

When asked how designing through the lens of the Victoria Beckham brand inspired their designs Kayleigh commented, “when researching, I looked into the VB brand and at what themes her designs follow. This is why I chose to use only a singular colour, and clean lines to lean into the more minimalist look of her brand.”

“Working in collaboration with Victoria Beckham influenced my approach to refinement and minimalism,” commented Ebony. “While my initial draping experiments were more exaggerated, I made the decision to simplify the design when moving into final fabrics. This allowed me to create a more resolved outcome that aligned with the brand’s clean and considered aesthetic.

Lu also felt refinement was key to reflecting the brand saying the brief pushed her to, “interpret the theme in a more refined and contemporary way rather than being too literal with my research into Renaissance nude women. While I was initially inspired by the beauty and naturalism of Renaissance studies of the female form, her design approach encouraged me to translate these ideas through subtlety, silhouette and structure instead of direct representation. It made me think more about how the body can be implied through tailoring, draping and negative space, aligning with her minimal and precise aesthetic. This helped me balance historical influence with modern couture, ensuring my design felt elegant and sophisticated.”

Reflecting on working with the students Hamish said, “it was great to see their pattern skills used in a more free and expressive way.”

Design Concepts

Fashion students were encouraged to creatively respond to the theme which centres around the body with each taking that concept into different directions, student Ebony was inspired by evolution she said “I explored the idea of human evolution, particularly the origin of life from water. This led me to create a concept centred around the connection between the human body and water, informed by my own experience of growing up by the sea.”

“I was also inspired by artistic references such as ‘And Again’, known for creating pleated wall-based pieces, which influenced my approach to fabric manipulation. I translated this into my design by developing a heavily manipulated denim jacket using pleating techniques to create texture and structure.  The process was both challenging and rewarding, particularly pleating four metres of heavy denim, which took several days to complete! I chose Kaia Gerber as my muse, linking to my concept of evolution through generations, referencing her mother, Cindy Crawford. Designing for Kaia influenced my approach to silhouette, as I wanted to highlight her long legs and strong shoulders through a balance of structure and fluidity.” (Final design pictured to the left.)

Fellow student Lu was “inspired by how Met Gala looks often tell a story or reference historical and artistic movements, I interpreted it in my own way, focusing on artwork and nude women in the Renaissance art period, where bigger women were seen as beautiful and celebrated. This is because they symbolised nature, growth and fertility. I wanted to keep this strong message throughout my whole project. A huge inspiration for me was Botticelli and his painting The birth of Venus. Venus was idolised during the renaissance art era as she was a symbol of attraction and romance but also represented fertility and nature. In many stories, she was charming and her presence could influence both gods and humans. I chose to use Lola Young as my muse as she embodies all the qualities, and I believed it would be interesting seeing her in a style she would never normally go for. Her soft features and beautiful structure really highlight the beauty of Renaissance times.”

Lu continued “I decided to challenge myself by using a fabric I had never worked with before, chiffon. I knew this was going to capture the softness and elegance of the Renaissance era, having a lightweight, sheer flowing fabric would work perfectly. With this I was challenged to be more careful with the fabric as it frayed and clipped very easily.”

“Everything you do underneath can be seen therefore all the seams had to be perfect. I was really pleased with the outcome and that I decided to use a slightly tricky fabric. From concept boards, fabric boards, designer research and draping I believe I captured the beauty of the Renaissance era and how the beauty of diverse body types in women were and should always be highly celebrated.” (pictured above)

Kayleigh decided “to investigate Greek and Roman marble statues and how I would be able to achieve a similar look and feeling to that in fabric. I researched famous statues that I have seen in person, such as David and Winged Victory, and was inspired by the way that they were made. I used my newly learnt draping skills and knowledge to create my fully draped skirt and then graded up a corset block for the top.” (pictured above)

Industry Crit & Project Reflections

Students participated in an industry crit which saw students present their designs to a group panel. Ebony came first place in the crit process, she said, “This was my first time presenting to a panel, which initially felt nerve-wracking. However, I found it really enjoyable discussing my design decisions and receiving feedback in real time. Being selected as first place was a huge achievement, especially considering the level of industry experience on the panel. It gave me confidence in my ability to respond successfully to a live brief and reinforced my belief in my design approach.”

Runner-up Lu said that the crit “allowed me to really showcase the work I had produced. I’ve always been a massive extrovert so talking in-front of people was something I really enjoyed. Because I was super proud of my outcome, I felt very passionate about explaining exactly how I got to where I did. It was really nice to hear the positive reinforcement as it allowed me to be more confident in the work I produced. I really didn’t expect to place runner-up as everyone’s outcomes were all super individual and amazing. I was really grateful to have my hard work recognised and it allowed me to be confident in my work as a designer.”

Reflecting on the project Ebony said “This was a challenging but highly rewarding brief. Working with complex fabrics and completing a full look within four weeks pushed me creatively and technically. Gaining an insight into the industry and hearing Hamish’s experiences was especially inspiring, and it gave me a clearer idea of what my future in fashion could look like.”

Lu described it as, “definitely challenging. It pushed me creatively with new skills I had never even looked into before. I think it’s made me more patient and willing to try the things that seem a little scarier. However, it also allowed me to explore the things I am super passionate about like the importance in body diversity, exploring femininity through high end fashion and the beauty in Renaissance artwork”

“Overall, I have found this module very interesting and insightful to the fashion world.” Said Kayleigh, “it was exciting to feel as though we were partaking in a real-world brief with a goal and outcome to work towards.” Lecturer Steph Greenwood said, “This is the biggest brief we’ve launched on the fashion course with students having to learn how to drape and photoshoot their MET Gala looks within just four weeks. They all handled it really well and professionally, we’ve seen a lot of key industry skills learnt.”

What’s it like studying BA (Hons) Fashion at The Northern School of Art?

When asked how they were about their experience on the fashion degree Ebony said “I’m really enjoying my degree programme. It’s been a great opportunity to learn from experienced professionals while maintaining a good work-life balance. The course covers all aspects of fashion, which has helped me build a well-rounded understanding of the industry. It has allowed me to explore different areas and better understand where my strengths and interests lie, and I do feel it is preparing me well for entering the industry.”

Lu described the programme as “Incredibly rewarding. All the time and effort you put in really does pay off. Not just through grading but also from the outcomes. Whether that’s creating a physical garment or something more digital. All the skills learnt and the constant information about the industry is really helpful. This includes the live briefs with Victoria Beckham and Barbour which has allowed me to get a taste for what the industry is like. The push for internships and experiences has bumped up my confidence levels massively and has allowed me to be certain in the fact that the industry is somewhere I want to be.”

Kayleigh commented on the community of the programme and skills development, “I really like the degree programme and the people that I have met on it. I feel as though we learn many skills both practical and on the computer that will be essential when working in industry.”

Website links and social media handles

Keep up to date with our students work on social media: Ebony Crystal: Instagram: @ecmfashionfiles LinkedIn: Ebony Chrystal, Kayliegh Laidler: Instagram: @sewnbykayleigh, Lu Wallace-Hunter: Instagram: @Lu.collectionz. You can see more of our fashion course on Instagram: @thenorthern_fashion

Find out more about BA (Hons) Fashion here.