Welcome to COEXIST
Manchester Fashion Institute’s Graduate Showcase 2023
This year’s show concept COEXIST is a story of how we coexist with the planet and with one another as a community. We now, more than ever, communicate through digital technology and are set for a digital future, whilst also trying to preserve and incorporate traditional methods and designs into contemporary craft practices. In a world where we support inclusivity, diversity and ethical practices to achieve coexistence and sustainability in the fashion industry, we also recognise the importance of our history, Manchester as a city, and how our industrial past influences fashion today.
This year’s showcase revolves around five cross-cutting themes – Community; Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI); Digital Future; Sustainability; and Craft. All the student work presented, aligns with one or more of these themes.
We invite you to visit our course pages, where you can meet our graduates, follow their journeys, and explore their work, ideas, and reflections.
Alongside this online archive of graduate work, we were delighted to present a number of exciting events, including catwalk shows, an outdoor exhibition and a digital exhibition – followed by a curated selection of our graduates presenting their final garments on the Graduate Fashion Week runway. Visit our events page to catch up on these!
Explore the work from our graduates
Our showcase this year is titled COEXIST and is a story of how we coexist with the planet and with one another as a community.
Community
Manchester Fashion Institute is a place where collaboration and co-creation are central to the way we work. Our reputation and our impact extend far beyond disciplinary boundaries because of this we are an Institute that thrives on community, with partnerships and projects all over the world. We offer a wide variety of impact driven activities to serve the private and public sectors as well as local community organisations. We are an international hub of fashion leadership, with a vast global network of connections and we collaborate externally with our partners in a variety of ways. As part of their final major projects our students have engaged in research and designed collections for sport and other active groups within their communities as well as taking inspiration from international study trips and partnerships with other universities.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity
We recognise that human diversity enriches a community’s wellbeing and facilitates its practical accomplishments. Working with local charities, businesses and other Higher Education organisations, we are committed to developing the cultural awareness and future preparedness of our students by empowering them to engage purposefully in dialogues and actions relating to EDI within fashion education and the global fashion industry. There are projects exploring students’ own cultural heritage, adaptive clothes for people with disabilities and people beyond the binary.
Digital Future
Manchester Fashion Institute is a cornerstone of the University’s digital strategy. We have had significant investment in new equipment and software as well as training and development for staff, which are key in supporting sustainable solutions for the fashion industry such as digital design and prototyping. Many of our students have engaged in the digital revolution by incorporating 3D printing into their work, utilising virtual prototyping and CLO 3D for design, and experimented with virtual reality (VR) immersive experiences for communication.
Sustainability
We’re proud to have maintained a top three position as a sustainable university in the People and Planet University League since 2013. Manchester Fashion Institute have led and collaborated on large scale UK, European and global research projects around recycling and upcycling of textiles, conscious consumption, and innovative new sustainable materials in collaboration with industry stakeholders. Sustainability is embedded in our curriculum, and we educate our students on best practices when it comes to production and development. We equip our students with the tools to create digital prototypes and/or work manually in half scale significantly reducing sampling waste. They have designed and cut their patterns to maximise fabric efficiently and look to use deadstock and recycled materials wherever possible.
Craft
Manchester has a deep history of craft, defined by cotton mills, textile production, and garment manufacturing in the 19th century. This plays an important role in the foundations of creativity, passing on knowledge of traditional cut make and sew techniques. Our students embrace cross-disciplinary collaboration, utilising each other’s skills and specialism for a more rounded approach to promotion or garment production. Design students will display their artisanal skills through knit, textiles, tailoring, draping and hand work.