The catwalk show and exhibition was attended by staff, students and external guests, including Faculty Pro Vice Chancellor Professor Martyn Evans, the Honorary Consul of Japan in Manchester and colleagues from Manchester City Council.

In September, Manchester Fashion Institute at Manchester Metropolitan University hosted 79 staff and students from Bunka Gakuen University, Tokyo, to showcase their third year student fashion show ‘i dear’.

Manchester Met has a longstanding partnership with Bunka since 2012, which has delivered internationalisation of the curriculum and dissemination of research through diverse collaborative activities between the two institutions, including Collaborative Online International Learning projects (COIL), guest lectures, study visits and workshops, hosting exhibitions, and attendance at the IFFTI 2019 conference hosted by Manchester Met.

The fashion show featured a collection of fashion looks, creative makeup, video presentations, and choreography, all designed, coordinated, and modelled by the Bunka students themselves. Alongside the fashion show, there was an exhibition of COIL project work from students across Bunka Gakuen University, LISAA Art School in Paris and Manchester Met in collaboration with Alexander McQueen, which focused on surface treatments. This exhibition will travel further and continue to be showcased at partner institutions in Paris and Tokyo during this academic year.

The catwalk show and exhibition was attended by staff, students and external guests, including Faculty Pro Vice Chancellor Professor Martyn Evans, the Honorary Consul of Japan in Manchester and colleagues from Manchester City Council.