SWISH

In October the Centre for Contemporary Visual Arts (CCVA), University of Brighton in collaboration with the London College of Fashion presented in the University gallery an exhibition of the work of Simon Thorogood who has been described as a Cult Fashion Designer and in the 1990s labelled by the fashion press as a rising star of 'Brit Couture'. The exhibition, 'Swish', consisted of an anthology of past designs from various collections including Fragment/a designed during his recent residency at the Victoria & Albert Museum and a new experimental sound and digital work in progress entitled 'Soundforms'.

'Soundforms' is a proposal for an original software package and installation piece that converts sound into fashion. Any kind of music, noise, speech or environmental sound will be captured and processed and then converted into line, shape, colour, surface decoration and composition and digitally projected onto a female figure. The design conversion is visually explained with the intention of communicating a different way of generating fashion design.

Graduating from Central St Martins in 1992, having completed both the BA and MA courses in Fashion, he established his bespoke women’s wear label in 1998 where his signature has been the exclusive use of silk duchesse satin. The resulting engineered garments have been described as futuristic, medieval and ecclesiastical. He has exhibited worldwide at venues including The Fashion Institute, New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Barbican Centre and ICA, London.

Exhibiting his work in a gallery context is an integrated component of his research, relating to the communication and presentation of clothing and his installations reflect closely to the ideas and research behind the work. He aims to extend the framework of fashion by confronting its limits with architecture, music and technology. Thorogood expands his “experience” of designing through the application of digital and interactive technology and explores systems, processes and programs where fashion design literally “grows”. Recently much of his design output has derived from his interest in Generative music and adaptive computer hive and swan theories in collaboration with the composer Stephen Wolff. Thorogood extends the traditions of couture through innovation and experimentation within fashion. He says of his own practice, “collaboration is a hugely important aspect of my own work, which has included partnerships with musicians/composers, architects, lighting designers and mathematicians”.

Future collaboration between CCVA University of Brighton and the London College of Fashion continues with an exhibition of the work of Lucy Orta, which will take place in the University of Brighton Gallery during April and May 2005.