On Thursday evening, 23 May, the Latvian Academy of Art’s (LMA) student fashion show took place in spectacular fashion at the Riga Art Space, where, as usual, 22 young artists presented their bold clothing collections. This year, too, the catwalk featured both original “ready-to-wear” garments and bold avant-garde design solutions, with the human being placed at their centre through the search for existence and truth, body modifications, striking contrasts and the dismantling of boundaries.

The scenographic design of the space also played a special role in the visual concept of the fashion show. This year, it was interpreted through powerful interactions of light and darkness, projections of broken mirrors, and the interplay of black and white, expressively filling the multifunctional hall and highlighting the students’ clothing collections even more convincingly. The main unifying trends in the young fashion artists’ collections included abstract, asymmetrical forms, body-hugging silhouettes and, conversely, markedly voluminous silhouettes, bright hues and vivid patterns, combinations of various textures and materials, unconventional accessories and headwear, as well as face coverings that symbolically expressed a striving towards the search for existence and truth, and the pronounced dismantling of boundaries between what may seem right and wrong.

This year, their interpretations of the fashion show’s theme were presented by first-year bachelor’s students Audrey Būša, Anna Jurjāne, Sigrija Mintika, Anda Pelse, Laine Rozenšteina and Milana Felicija Semojonova; second-year student Romāns Arhipovs; third-year students Vitālijs Kondraščuks, Elīna Grīnberga, Sindija Kļaviņa and Karlīne Anete Nagliņa; fourth- year students Agate Boša, Romija Štāle, Baiba Tamane and Monta Pētersone; first-year master’s students Reinis Krūmiņš and Elīna Baltace; and second- year students Laima Jurča, Una Bērziņa, Dana Jasinkēviča, Sanda Feldberga and Iveta Vecmane. Each surprised those present with previously unseen design solutions, specially selected models and musical accompaniment tailored to their appearance.

Importantly, for the first time, the work of the young designers was also evaluated during the fashion show by a professional jury of foreign fashion and design experts: Jolanta Vazalinskiene, professor in the Fashion Department of the Vilnius Academy of Art, fashion designer, stylist and renowned costume artist, under whose supervision iconic and spectacular theatre costumes have been created and countless other fashion and design projects implemented; Austrian design expert and LMA guest lecturer Martin Fossleitner; as well as representatives of the international showroom INTRO, Triinu Sepp and Piret. They were joined by leading experts from Latvia’s fashion industry: fashion design lecturers Agnese Narņicka, Artis Štamgūts and Indra Komarova; Dace Krieviņa-Bahmane, fashion editor of L’Officiel magazine; Liene Stūraine, editor-in-chief of Pastaiga magazine; and fashion editor Olga Kolotova; fashion designer Keta Gūtmane; fashion buyer Elīza Drāzniece; the designer of the MAREUNROL’S brand, Rolands Pēterkops; and others.

“As Latvia enters a new century of art education, LMA Fashion Show 2019 introduces promising future fashion designers. We are pleased with what has been accomplished and, inspired by the support of fashion experts, will continue developing our study programmes, methods and assignments with renewed energy, in order to increase our students’ competitiveness not only in the local fashion market but also internationally,” comments Māra Binde, head of the LMA Department of Fashion Art.

At the conclusion of the fashion show, Audrey Būša, the favourite selected by the Baltic region’s largest design concept store, “BOLD Concept Store”, was also offered the unique opportunity to display her new clothing collection in the store window for the following month. Meanwhile, from 7 to 16 June, an LMA student pop-up store will be open in the Meeting Point premises on the fourth floor of the “Galerija Centrs” fashion and shopping centre, where visitors will be able to purchase works not only by the participants in the fashion show but also by other young LMA fashion designers.

From 3 to 21 June, the LMA Diploma Work Festival will also take place in the former Faculty of Biology of the University of Latvia, at 4 Kronvalda Boulevard, Riga, and on 3 June at 6:30 p.m., in cooperation with the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, the LMA’s new building (K2), at 13 Kalpaka Boulevard, Riga, will host the seminar “Smart Fabrics and Textile Innovations in Business, Fashion and Design” (in English), to which everyone interested is invited free of charge, after completing the online registration form: https://ej.uz/gudrie-audumi. In addition to the seminar, creative fashion design workshops will also take place on 3 and 4 June from 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the premises of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia’s Creative Industries Incubator, at 45/47 Elizabetes Street, Riga (the number of participants is limited).

News from the Fashion Department can be followed on the LMA’s social media channels, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LMAfashion and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lma.mode.

The fashion show was supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation and the Riga Art Space; it was organised by the Latvian Academy of Art.