The White Show: Central Saint Martins’ initiation project returns

It’s the college’s longest standing task, and a rite of passage completed by designers from Riccardo Tisci to Harris Reed
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Joe Bromley15 December 2021

Central Saint Martins, the renowned fashion college that counts Alexander McQueen, Kim Jones and Phoebe Philo as alumni, was abuzz with anticipation on Thursday afternoon.

As lights went down and music ramped up, students of all ages dangled over balconies and crammed up staircases in the Kings Cross building, all to get a glimpse of The White Show. Under colourful, flashing spotlights, 140 white garments stormed out in single file.

Models line up during The White Show, 2021
Photograph by Harry Lunnon

The runway is a culmination of the first term for the fresh intake of fashion design students, and the task is simple: make one outfit using only calico or white felt as fabric, and stand out from the crowd. It is notorious for its otherworldly creativity and craziness, and this year did not disappoint. Everything from bunny ears to balloons, LED strip lights and tree branches, knickers and placards streamed out to spruce up the new looks.

As the longest standing project on the university’s BA Fashion course, it has been a rite of passage for designers like Christopher Kane, Daniel Lee and Riccardo Tisci, who have all sent out their debut monochrome looks in years past. It can also be an important stepping stone; Harris Reed’s huge white hat first caught the eye of stylist Harry Lambert, who went on to commission his designs for Harry Styles, while a version of Conner Ives’ deconstructed tuxedo was worn by Adowa Aboah to the 2017 Met Gala.

Adowa Aboah wears a version of Conner Ives’ White Show project to the Met Gala, 2017
Getty

“Before starting at CSM I remember seeing the work produced by previous years and thinking that that level was almost unattainable,” says Isaac Curiel, who studies Fashion Design with Marketing, and showed a sharp tailored, spiky garment complete with frightening mouthpiece inspired by parasitic lovers. “It was hectic – seeing people in white outfits running around the building in the weeks before the show. On the day there were hundreds of people crowding around the staircase. It was so exciting to be able to show my work to a wider audience.”

“It’s obviously daunting,” Menswear student Marshall McGlone agrees. “It’s all you can think about for weeks straight.” The designer’s wide pannier skirt, worn with cropped jacket and a protruding tie made a statement closing this year’s show. “My garment is about being biracial, and about how Whiteness impairs my ability to identify as Black. The texture is meant to resemble white paint chipping off of a black wall and throughout the garment’s life it will eventually revert to just its original black colour,” he says.

Sakura Sen’s White Show Design, 2021
Photograph by Celinna Chou

Cheering them on from the audience was a throng of pathway tutors and old students. Patrick McDowell, who graduated from BA Womenswear at the college in 2018 and has gone on to found a brand and take on the role of Sustainable Design Director at Pinko, was one. “This year’s creativity displayed at the CSM White Show was incredible,” he says, well remembering 2014 when he finalised his own. “Moving forward into the 2020’s and beyond it’s so important for us all to have these places that foster and nurture creativity.”

But for the group of bright young things who can finally head home for Christmas, this is only the beginning. “I am ready to face new challenges now,” says Curiel. “And to use colour, having seen nothing but white for the past couple of months. The future is colourful and exciting.”

See a selection of designs from The White Show, supported by L’Oréal Professionnel, in the gallery above

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