“Ban Hot Glue”: 5 Of The Best CSM Graduates On The Future Of Fashion Education
For this collection, I have relied on the historic textile and dress traditions from Gaza for grounding, direction and inspiration, incorporating print, hand and machine embroidery, leather work, laser engraving, cutting and knit. The collection is about Palestine. It is a response to the genocide in Gaza.
What would you most like to change about fashion education?
I shared my journey into Central Saint Martins publicly, crowdfunding my way through education. The overwhelming support I received was heartwarming, reinforcing my belief that fashion is filled with positivity, but I yearn for a system that is far more accessible to diverse, aspiring designers – an inclusive environment where everyone, regardless of their background, has the chance to shine.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
My ambition is to establish a fashion business that drives collaboration, with a strong focus on uplifting Palestinian creatives. Alongside creating a production cycle that empowers my community and showcases the talent of local artists, I am committed to confronting socio-political issues, challenging the status quo and, in turn, elevating our collective voice.
What’s your standout memory from CSM?
Cartwheels during all-nighters in the library, and gossip sessions after the lights go out in the studio.
Isobel Dickens
How would you describe your aesthetic and ethos as a designer?
Whether it’s through unconventional construction, textiles or styling, there’s always a tactile, handmade quality to what I make. I like the idea of clothing as something you can’t quite place in time, but that feels familiar. My ethos is less about perfection and more about feeling: making work that invites interpretation and encourages people to bring something of their own to it.
Tell us about your collection.
My collection is titled “I am Telling You Because You Are Far Away”. It’s rooted in my upbringing in Thanet, an area I moved away from when I was 10. The area has transformed a lot in recent years, but I wanted to capture it as I remembered it: a landscape of personal ghosts, whether they are people, places or objects that were left behind. I started the process by revisiting old drawings – mine, my dad’s, my friends’ – which gave rise to silhouette, texture and colours. I looked at the small objects I left with, like leaving gifts, and returned to collect objects that had washed up on the seashore. I liked the idea of these found things, weathered, displaced, standing in for memories that resurface unexpectedly. There’s a lot of loss in this collection, but it’s not about mourning. It’s about creating space for what remains, and celebrating it. The garments are deliberately personal, but I hope they allow room for others to find their own meaning.
What are the key fabric details?
Many of the pieces in this collection are created from pipe cleaners woven together to create a trompe-l’œil Fair Isle knit inspired by one of my brother’s hand-me-down jumpers. Other fabrications include hand-cut craft foam, and a cardboard relief technique in which I peeled the top layers of cardboard to create prints.
What lessons have you learnt the hard way at CSM?
Not everything has to be resolved at once. In the beginning, I would often overwork ideas out of fear they weren’t “finished” or clear enough, but often your first instinct is the best.
What would you most like to change about fashion education?
I think that sometimes you are expected to have a strong aesthetic and know exactly what you’re about when you come to a place like CSM. This really intimidated me at first. I was 19 and still figuring out what I wanted to do with my work. Education should be about experimentation, and challenging your taste, aesthetic and sources of inspiration. Your visual identity as a designer will come from that.
What’s your standout memory from CSM?
It was probably during the internal graduate show, when I saw my best friend’s collection for the first time. We’d been dressing our models in separate studios, and caught sight of each other’s work just as the show was about to start. It was such a surreal moment. I’m always in awe of what my coursemates create, but seeing it all come together, after months of watching each other work in the studio, was just so special.
Myah Hasbany
How would you describe your aesthetic and ethos as a designer?
A mixture of experimental knitwear and handcrafted textiles. I’m drawn to the tension between soft, delicate elements and the rough, moody qualities of certain textile treatments.
Tell us about your collection.
My final collection is centred around the story of a UFO crash in Aurora, Texas – when a spaceship allegedly crashed into a windmill, killing the alien inside. According to local legend, the townspeople decided it would be best to give the alien a Christian burial and forget the incident ever happened. I wanted to build on this story and imagine how the residents in the town might mutate and transform as a result of covering up this crash. The looks morph from relatively recognisable silhouettes into otherworldly creatures including a coat embroidered with more than 300,000 hand-stitched beads that took me over a year to create.
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