The Fifth edition of the Fashion Design graduating class 2022 takes place in the new Gezairi building under the title: IGNITE.
Jalal Moghraby, Adjunct Faculty in Fashion Design
On the afternoon of June 23, 2022 – 11 graduating Fashion students unveiled their collections at LAU’s Gezairi building – marking the School of Architecture & Design (SArD) first show in four years and an optimistic return to physical presentations following a dire pandemic.
The showcase, entitled | IGNITE | , was theatrically staged at the heart of SArD’s new home where the graduating students finalized and pieced together their sendoff creations.
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As has been the tradition, three graduates were distinguished for their creations.
Cynthia El Masri’s “L’Éternité” took home the coveted Prix Du Jury handpicked by Mr. Elie Saab himself, where El Masri will be interning for the next 6 months. Challenging fashion’s inherently volatile nature with a premise of creating timeless pieces that feel like “they’ve always been there”, El Masri resorted to saturated colors, sumptuous textures and purist forms to bring her vision to life.
The Concept Development award was granted to Lara Nakar’s “Schadenfreude” which assumes a sardonic approach to express a critical stance on the position of art and design in today’s bleak times. Referencing Meme Culture, Surrealism and Freud’s Humor Aesthetics, Nakar’s designs are balanced between exaggerated forms and utilitarianism to render ironic clothes “objects of desire rather than clownery”.
Zainab Haidar Ahmad aptly won the Craftsmanship award with her “Identity Layers” collection which honors her relationship with her mother who passed on the art of dressmaking to her. Fashioned in wool, lamé and organza, Ahmad’s designs manifest in shades of bronze to evoke a warm feeling of nostalgia and reminiscence.
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“As we parade the politics of appearance through commodities into which our feelings and aspirations have been displaced, we reclaim our rightful state of being together - with ourselves, with each other and with the world” - That was the note 2022’s seniors wanted to advance on.
The phenomenon that is Ignition is fact of one of bringing together –
Ablaze in a longing that is ambivalent between the furnaces of the future and the past,
we clutch to the “leaping fire sparks as they flare into light”. A light that paves the way into new territories beyond what is known and what is feasible.
In simpler terms, despite turmoil and uncertainty, aspirations still ignite.