UEL textiles staff and students’ work praised by HM the Queen
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Textiles staff and students from UEL were presented to Her Majesty the Queen in Bromley during her national Jubilee tour last week.
The Queen was treated to a traditional Jubilee street party in the town ahead of next month's celebrations, with the emphasis on fashion through the ages.
Foundation textiles and fashion student, Mikaela Cephinis, who had won an open competition to create an image of what future fashions might look like, had her drawings blown up into a gigantic banner which was then displayed in the Glades shopping centre, the focal point of the Queen’s visit.
While UEL academics, Emma Carey and Kate Davey, curated an exhibition at the shopping centre reflecting London as a global centre of fashion, featuring outfits from every decade of the Queen’s reign.
24 outfits were displayed including 10 vintage designs, among them a cream Hardy Amies ball gown from the 1950s, an Ossie Clark number from the 1960s and a Biba dress from the 1970s.
The exhibition also included exclusive outfits donated by a number of high profile designers, including John Rocha, Jeff Banks, Julien McDonald, Preen, Pearce Fionda and PPQ.
Emma and Kate were commissioned to curate the exhibition by Jenny Holloway of the Fashion Studio, a state-of-the-art fashion design and manufacturing facility based at the University’s Docklands campus. Jenny said: "The Fashion installation for the Diamond Jubilee was a major success and we couldn't have achieved this without Emma and Kate's as the curators."
Kate Davey, lecturer in Textiles at UEL, said: "We were thrilled to be given this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to use our creative skills to curate a high-end display for the Queen and Prince Philip as part of her diamond Jubilee tour."
About Mikaela's winning illustration, she added: “Also seeing Michaela's work blown up to a vast scale and suspended from the ceiling near our display filled me with a sense of pride, as she has been one of our most hard working foundation level students.”
Prince Philip didn't fail to deliver with one of his typically witty comments. When Kate explained that as well as being a lecturer in Textiles at UEL she had also studied there for her degree 20 years ago, he quipped: ‘It's good to see they have recycled you!”
Notes to Editors
The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.
