Timed to coincide with London Frieze Week, the interactive showcase staged by the 2023 MA Graduates in Fashion Entrepreneurship in Design and Brand Innovation at JCA fashion school was both innovative and creative. Star graduates participating included Polly McEvitt, Olivia Black, Mariam Saeed, Saleha Hussain, Rocio Sánchez, Meryem Bertal and Aaiyma Masoud.
JCA London Fashion Academy presents innovative MA Collections
Words by
Lisa Barnard
17th October 2023
JCA – London Fashion Academy, the pioneering fashion school and incubator founded by Professor Jimmy Choo OBE and CEO Stephen Smith, presented the final collections of its second cohort of MA students. SPHERE’s Lisa Barnard attended the innovative showcase and VIP reception, drawing guests from rock star Rod Stewart to fashion designer Malan Breton.
Rod Stewart and his son Alastair Wallace Stewart
Showcase for JCA London Fashion Academy MA Collections
Taking place across the three storeys of JVA’s impressive Grade 1 Georgian building in Hanover Square, the collections were presented as dynamic human installations, displaying the creativity and originality of each graduate entrepreneur. The reference as “entrepreneur” is deliberate, because JCA’s MA course encourages the development of commercial enterprises, with students establishing themselves as micro-SMEs or freelancers and are encouraged to develop a commercial enterprise from the outset.
Meryem Bertal's introduced UNBD
Polly McKevitt's debut collection Cluttergories
VIPs and Stars attending JCA London Fashion Academy MA collections
Guests attending the showcase evening included Rod Stewart, son Alastair Wallace Stewart, Penny Lancaster, Amelia Windsor, Lady Victoria Hervey, Malan Breton, Jeff Banks, Eunice Olumide, Camilla Rutherford, Isabella Charlotta, Irina Pantaeva, Jeetendr Sehdev, Bao Ha Phan, Matthew Zorpas, Anna Khanoff, Emilio de la Morena and Mark Ebulue.
Fashion designer Malan Breton attended the event
Professor Jimmy Choo’ MA Presentation included:
- Olivia Black: a sustainable fashion brand focused on genderless design
- Polly McEvitt: an avant-garde brand that focuses on retro silhouettes, crafted from 100% deadstock materials
- Yasmin: a luxury streetwear brand by Saleha Hussain that fuses contemporary and modesty fashion, whilst prioritising ethical manufacturing and sustainable practices.
- Icela Berra: a sustainable bridal, ceremonial brand, focused on feminine, stylised pieces for the unconventional woman who wants to make a statement.
- AAIYMA creative studio: Created by Aaiyma Masoud focuses on the "simple unusual” and combines geometric shapes and three-dimensionality to challenge the status quo
Yasmin by Saleha Hussain redefines modest fashion
Olivia Black uses surplus materials and secondhand garments to create clothing for everyone
JCA – London Fashion Academy opened its doors in Mayfair in September 2021 to play
a pivotal role in re-galvanising London’s fashion community post-pandemic and has been established as an international hub for design and luxury brands. The facility is more than just an educational academy, and provides co-working spaces for fashion start-ups, gallery and exhibition space and hosts networking and fashion-focused events. In late 2022, JCA opened a second campus at Boston Manor in West London.
www.JCA.ac.uk and Instagram @JCALONDON
Artist Ariish Wol, actor and model Taslimah Rasool, actor Mercedez Odeyemi and guest attended the event
