Meet the RMIT designers testing the limits of style at Melbourne Fashion Week

Jessica Gregory, Sammi Guss and Rachel Louey are three of the 20 selected Bachelor of Fashion (Design) (Honours) graduates whose craft embraces out-of-the-box ideas in new Australian fashion.

Now in its 12th year, RMIT’s exclusive Student Runway at Melbourne Fashion Week will showcase the most exciting and inventive collections coming out of the School of Fashion and Textiles.

The event is a unique opportunity for students to share their work with the local design community and position themselves as the creative talent of fashion’s next generation, leading the way for emerging design.

Experimenting with material’s construction, form and process, the designers’ garments are inspired by everything from technological communication to the comfort of a human hug.

Meet the designers

Jessica Gregory 

Gregory’s collection, Legit Poetry, bursts with humour, as expected from clothing influenced by the internet’s meme phenomenon.

The fashion design student applied meme-making’s collage process by creating awkwardly proportioned silhouettes adorned with digital or screen prints to achieve a “cut-and-pasted” effect on the body.

Coming to the end of her honours degree, Gregory says RMIT has been a powerful platform to push the boundaries of the current fashion industry through innovation.

What was the inspiration behind your collection?

Legit Poetry explores the consumption and manipulation of modern communication. The garments act as a worn publication of text and image with the wearer playing the role of author and manipulator.

This work is particularly influenced by the changes in contemporary communication that has encouraged hyper-socialisation and the re-mixing and replication of information through memes.

How does it feel to be selected to showcase at Melbourne Fashion Week?

I’m so excited to see my work walk the runway and feel a sense of accomplishment and pride in myself as well as my peers, who have grown with me over the four-year degree. It feels like a group achievement.

What are your plans for the future?

From working as a retail assistant during my studies, I have come to believe that there’s much to say for simply immersing yourself in the market and learning from those who inspire you and who you align with in principles and ethics.

Eventually, I would like to further explore my love of printmaking and collage with my own local Melbourne brand.

Rachel Louey

Initially pursuing an Associated Degree in Fashion and Textile Merchandising, Louey’s practice has always revolved around traditional tailoring methods and focused on the ways our clothes are constructed.

Her graduate collection for Melbourne Fashion Week carries that message along, allowing the wearer to play an active role in the final execution of the clothes.

Full of wools, prints and textiles reflecting post-Soviet architecture, Louey hopes her menswear know-how will take her to New York, Paris or London.

What was the inspiration behind your collection?

My inspiration stemmed from a series of photographs by Sonya Kydeeva, a Moscow-based photographer who documents youth and subcultures in contemporary Russia.

Menswear has been a predominant interest of mine over the past couple of years, so sociological studies in relation to masculinity through these contemporary cultures have also been influential to my work. 

How does it feel to be selected to showcase at Melbourne Fashion Week?

After the initial self-doubts and reservations, I do know that having been given the opportunity to showcase and present my work on this platform is something I should take within my stride and be extremely grateful and appreciative of.

Why did you shift into fashion design from fashion merchandising?

To design and be creative in its purest form has always been a passion of mine, but I was almost too scared to purely go down a design path and apply for the honours design degree. I knew I needed to be part of the making process.

In saying so, without having completed the associate degree, I wouldn’t have known how strongly I felt about trying to pursue a career in design and it has definitely opened my eyes to the marketing and logistics side of fashion, both very important areas should I wish to pursue a multidisciplinary role in fashion after I graduate.

Sammi Guss

The Cultures of Kindness collection comes from a wholesome place. Guss’ gender neutral designs look at ways humans physically and emotionally communicate support and kindness to one another.

Oversized knitted silhouettes suggest an “inclusive fashion identity” and a relaxed cosiness, and Guss says she aimed to generate community through positive design.

The final-year student wants to continue making waves in the fashion industry after she graduates, pursuing her passion in comfort wear and lingerie.

What was the inspiration behind your collection?

I’ve always viewed garments in a way in which they are not traditionally understood; not solely for aesthetics, but rather as evocative objects. This philosophy has always driven my inspiration towards design. I started this year with a single question, “how can garments unite us?”, and created my collection, Cultures of Kindness, as a response.

How does it feel to be selected to showcase at Melbourne Fashion Week?

I can’t think of a better way to introduce myself as a designer publically than at Melbourne Fashion Week. It’s turning a vision into a reality by understanding how to not just physically create garments, but how to visually tell a story of where I am now and how my garments relate to my future as a designer.

How has studying at RMIT developed your design approach?

Our teachers and mentors push us to be innovators in the industry with no idea being too extreme. That freedom and encouragement has allowed me to try some obscure and imaginative things over the past four years. Through this trial and error, I’ve really found my footing and identity as a designer and what is authentic to me and my practice.

Melbourne Fashion Week’s RMIT Student Runway kicks off at the Melbourne Town Hall on Thursday 7 September 2017.

Story: Jennifer Park