As the new blogging director, I have been very involved and incredibly excited about this year’s fashion show. Although I only joined Newcastle University last year, I have always followed the important and fundamental aspects of the NUFS fashion creations. The Zero Waste show of last year was particularly impressive. I knew I wanted to become a part of the team. 

I decided to join the creative directing team this year and through doing this, I was able to help create the screenplays for each film. This was an experience that I thoroughly enjoyed and shared with fellow creatives, including new editorial director Greta Greiciunaité, who helped lead the creative directing team. The concept was ‘human interference’ which consisted of fire, earth, water and air. Which would all be separate films to be showcased as a part of the online fashion performance. It would display new and innovative fashion brands, including our university’s own clothing brand. The casting directors would hire models from, and outside, of the society to wear the clothes, and our own stylists would help design them too. 

The show was made to be a digital format that would be shown as part of a digital fashion week. The pre-recorded show premiered on YouTube across the week of the 14th of June. The clothing consisted of the NUFS collection and specially curated designers. The video comprised a mix of walks and editorial style recordings in the style of short films. 

Our current president, Erica Welhenage, had a few words to say about the show. “Working on an event this big has been an amazing opportunity for me, especially since I am pursuing a career in fashion. I have learnt so much and met so many lovely people.” 

Each individual that contributed to the show this year has put so much effort and hard work into this project, and it is evident when you look through each film. It was an exceptionally significant project for model and modelling director Manako Maddison, who modelled for this year’s show.

“I have always been insecure with my body. Especially my face. My body can be modified with styles, but I always thought my face looked ugly compared to my schoolmates, even with makeup. If it wasn't for my friends inviting me to audition as the model for the annual fashion show, the confident me wouldn't be here today. I always thought people interested in fashion were intimidating, but during the creative process everyone was telling each other how amazing they look and chatting about the fantastic collection for this year's show. I was reminded of how passionate and dedicated everyone was to the industry, and because everyone was so brilliant with taking care of each other, I realised that the duration of my time as a model for the show was also the time for healing in self love. For that, I am grateful for this year’s committee, the creative team and other models for guiding me on the journey of confidence.” 

The show helped a lot of people become confident and content with their bodies. Each member felt included and embraced in the greatness that was this year’s show. Neelam Majumder, a model, hair and makeup artist of this year’s show agrees.

“I had such an amazing time meeting some of the sweetest, most enthusiastic people at uni! I always really loved the idea of modelling but never thought I could because of my body type, but NUFS has been so wonderfully diverse and inclusive - I’ve never felt so confident! As for the makeup side, I’ve always enjoyed experimenting with dramatic makeup looks on myself but this was my first chance to do it on so many people with different skin tones and facial structures. It was a fast learning curve (having to do make-up in a muddy field while avoiding dropping my brushes in cow pats was certainly an experience) but I’ve learned so much so quickly and truly loved both sides in front and behind the camera.” 

However, it wasn’t just the models that felt inspired by the experiences that the committee gave them. Stylist, Manny Kaur, learnt how to adapt from a regular face-to-face show to an especially current online show while she was styling.

“This year’s fashion show was an incredible learning curve, adapting the art of sewing to a digital context was not an easy task but one that provided us with the most suitable fashion show in the end. As fashion director, I designed and planned the NUFS collection where I used gingham fabric to emphasise the versatility of clothing, and thus relating it to sustainability. Working together (remotely) on such a large creative project was amazing and to see the end result work so seamlessly was a pleasure to be part of.” 

Then, we had our producers, our designer outreach team, our PR and marketing team, creative directors and our audio/visual team who helped both behind-the-scenes and on set. There was a lot to be done to ensure that the show would go smoothly. Contacting brands to managing budgets, the responsibility was endless. Catherine McConnachie, an associate producer and photographer of the show tells more:

“I helped with contacting brands to loan clothes for the show and I helped with styling. On shoot days I also did some photography which I loved ! I loved being part of the society, I’ve met some amazing people and I’ve really enjoyed capturing the theme of human interference in photos, as well as capturing behind the set shots.” 

Akvilė Urbonaitė, creative director, treasurer and producer, also had an incredibly positive experience of the show. Being a part of the financial side, her role was challenging, but ‘magical’.

“I would say that the whole process of creating this show was really magical. On one hand, we were completely free to take up any idea and make it happen. On the other hand, I was aware of the whole financing part, which made it easier having in mind our budget and not exceeding our limits. Working from two different angles really gave me an invaluable experience.”

Fellow creative directors, Fejiro and Rommie also expressed that their time in this year’s fashion show was one they won’t forget. 

Féjiro Ovah, social secretary and creative director remembers the time as both challenging and fun: 

“My favourite moments were at the water and fire shoots, mainly because the fire shoot was something I hold dear to me. I really enjoyed coming up with that screenplay and those ideas. I also got to style as well. The water shoot was the first one so it took a bit longer, but I really loved what we came up with and being at Tynemouth beach. The fact that the weather was nice as well was great. Loads of nice scenarios, loads of nice pictures.

What I found challenging was the fact that with the budget, we had to scale down ideas. Anything that looked incredible in your head that you could see coming together in the most beautiful way, we couldn’t do because of the budget and we had to scale down. It was challenging but it was a learning curve. It’s something that will help us in the future. If you’re working on different projects, you had to make sure that your idea fits the budget that has been given to you. There’s so many people working together on this shoot, so everyone’s ideas had to come together and in harmony and that can be a bit challenging at first. We just had to remember that the end goal was creating something beautiful that everyone can love and appreciate. It was a really good experience and it really opened my eyes to what I would like to do in the future. I’m very thankful for this opportunity. If you are thinking about doing it next year, I would really consider doing it because it is really rewarding and you get to learn a lot of things as well.” 

Rommie Pintatham, who worked on creative directing and fashion outreach, found her experience working on the show interesting and creative. She talks about her favourite shoot: 

“I really liked the water shoot the best because it was our first shoot and it was just really exciting to see everything come together after so much time working on it. Also, the weather was really nice that day. It contributed to all the fun. I really liked working with a new group of people and getting more creative and more involved in the society. 

Designer outreach was reaching out to brands to make sure we had enough clothing for the show and creative directing was involving screenplays and how the screenplays would progress. What I really liked about designer outreach, besides working with these brands, was that I had the opportunity to style the models and put what the designer envisioned into what we designed as well so it was really interesting and I enjoyed creating that.”

However she also experienced some challenges: 

“Some challenges we faced were about weather. On shooting days, it may have been rainy, cold, we had to work around that. We had to plan ahead. We had to make sure everything was realistic. For creative directing, we had a lot of great and big ideas that we envisioned for the show and some of that we were not able to do because we didn’t have the equipment or the budget for it. Overall, it was a learning curve and I’m sure we’ve all learnt a lot collectively for it.” 

It wasn’t just the students who were impressed by the outcome of the show. Fashion brands HELIKON XX and Trendlistr Vintage were also in awe of the way NUFS displayed their clothing.

HELIKON XX: “I have been very pleased to be part of the final show of Newcastle University, specifically as I and particularly project HELIKON XX were resonating a lot with the theme of this year. Expressing urgent call for the change in the fashion industry, bigger focus on awareness, supporting more sustainable ways to our environment and being conscious of what one person, a.k.a designer can change/develop. I felt very supportive towards the students and the whole concept. Partnering with Environmental Justice Foundation was amazing strategy and great example of how the shows could lead to the great result of doing things right. As a fashion designers we have a future in our hands and that’s why it's important to be conscious and connect fashion and education is absolutely the key.” 

Trendlistr Vintage: “The quality of the productions that NUFS puts on consistently impresses us year to year. They have their finger on the pulse of trends - both in fashion and imagery/experiences!”

Overall, NUFS Human Interference Online Fashion Show of 2021 is an experience that I and many others have really enjoyed being a part of. We urge all of our readers to help the environment by buying from more environmentally-friendly clothing stores. 

Written by Holly Turner.