The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2023 - Issue 33

bitefashion Hailing from Bolivia, South America, Jessica Novato’s genderless collection was inspired by the workwear worn by farmers in her home country. The palette was mainly dark colours with a pop of orange and light camel. The casual looks consisted of jackets, shirts such as the exaggerated green apparel with oversized chest pockets, cargo trousers and tops, a blue sweater with grey stripes and a zip extending from the arms to the chest that can be opened. I liked the all-camel look with the floating coat, long shirt and matching trousers that flowed effortlessly down the runway. Native French speaker Shanie Bellanger is a creative and passion- ate individual who loves draping. Her collection is based on grow- ing up with parents that own four nightclubs in France. She looked at their time in the ‘90s and mixed it with a contemporary shape and her vision of fashion. The designer played with symmetric and asymmetric shapes through club and nightlife influences and culture in her design. She was also inspired by her parents’ photo- graphs from the ‘80s preserved in the plastic paper. Her opening look was a single-button white coat with a shawl- like collar draped under the main one, and down the back with a longer length on the right was a show-stopper. The next apparel was a powerful graffiti-like patterned top with open arms paired with shimmering trousers. Another patterned piece looked like a full dress from afar, but as it got closer, you realised they were sep- arate pieces, with the top arching over the slightly puffed skirt. The second-to-last look was a fierce Matrix-like apparel with a cropped shimmery top and leather trousers in purple with cutouts. Zahra Husain used pastel and dark colours to accentuate her collection. The looks included an off-the-shoulder lilac sloughy jumper with embroidered pattern paired with matching trou- sers and a dark blue satiny button-up shirt with split sleeves and matching trousers with thread endings across the waist and a flap at the back. One of the most exciting apparel was the light grey silky double-breasted suit and boots with a darker grey panel on the right lapel and puffy sleeves. The models wore headpieces re- sembling mushroom heads matching the garments they walked in. Erin Kaya concentrated on both inner and outerwear, including a take on a trench coat with extra layers on the shoulders and a dash of paint on the front and back. The next look was a wide-necked black shirt and trousers set with white panelling on the arms, the shirt sides and the outside trouser leg. A long shirt dress with sil- ver lines and patterns cascaded down the runway while a beauti- fully crafted porcelain-looking shirt opened at the neck showed off a heart-shaped top with side cutouts. Best Designer 2022 winner Arina Vartanova showcased her views and commentary on the current Russian-Ukraine war situation through the eyes of a Russian expat. Her collection was initially inspired by Soviet cooking books hence the signature fruit-pat- terned chef hats and oven mitts but translated into her way of speaking against the war. One of her designs, a blue jacket had ‘No War’ scribbled in Russian on the right sleeve. Besides that, her collection was a colourful palette of patterns, shapes and prints. www.istitutomarangoni.com/en/schools/london-school-of-fash- ion-and-design Jessica Novato Shanie Bellanger