Future Fashion Now: The Fashion Design Process, Royal College of Art

‘Future Fashion Now’ was an exhibition co-curated by Dagworthy and Deirdre Murphy (Curator of the Royal Collections at Kensington Palace). The show, featuring work from 2008 RCA graduates, emphasised the technical skills and specialist knowledge that underpin the creation of designs for today’s fashion industry. The exhibition, which showed the work of 27 graduate designers, was split into four sections: concept, form, technique and detail. Rather than just being a celebration of finished work, the displays deconstructed the fashion design process in order to show the relationships and dependencies between different specific activities. It illustrated the extent to which an understanding of aspects such as material, cut, stitching and embellishment are essential to fashion design practice as much as concept generation through preparatory sketches and design boards. The exhibition proved to be an opportunity for Dagworthy to present her design education philosophy through the medium of the gallery environment. By relying on in-depth case studies of the entire working practices of successful graduates, rather than just showcasing results, it addressed the pressing issue of skills acquisition fundamental to the fashion industry, which is frequently downplayed in favour of notions of celebrity and the power of the brand. ‘Future Fashion Now’ ran from May 2009 to January 2010. Because it attracted an unprecedented number of visitors, the show’s run was extended for an additional six months.