News by Charlie Whitehand
Power of Identity: Memory Fashion Message II will be the first fashion event to be held in the newly opened Japan House in Kensington. The show will take place on Friday 7th December, celebrating 100 years of Czechoslovakia’s independence, with live music and fashion led by award-winning Czech designer Liběna Rochová and 12 of her students. Memory Fashion Message II aims to portray true artistic vision and radical new ideas. Rochová encourages her students to make bold creative statements while remaining dedicated and skilful craftspeople, and this is demonstrated in their artistic and technological artefacts. The performance will be made up of 12 collections by emerging designers who drew their inspiration from international contemporary influences mixed with national cultural heritage. Alongside each unique design, the show will also feature footwear and accessories from the iconic Czech producers Bat’a and Preciosa.
The event was organised by Czech Centre London and marks the ongoing collaboration between Prague’s Academy of Arts, Architecture & Design and Bunka Fashion School in Tokyo, where the collection premiered earlier this year during Tokyo Amazon Fashion Week.
Tickets for the show are available to the public for £10. The performance will be followed by a fashion exhibition at the Vitrínka Gallery, which will open the next day inside the Czech Centre. The exhibition will be accompanied by a pop-up shop which will hosts a selection of independent Czech labels and run until early January.
Czech fashion designer and legendary educator Liběna Rochová said, “I am honoured to be invited to London by the director of Czech Centre London, Tereza Porybná. The students’ fashion collection which was so warmly received in Tokyo, is truly not to be missed.”
Power of Identity: Memory Fashion Message II will feature collections by Michaela Čapková, Antonína Záblotská, Zoltán Tóth, Agáta Seeháková, Barbora Procházková, Sára Beránková, Karolína Karpíšková, Natálie Dufková, Natálie Nepovímová, Aleš Hnátek, Tereza Kanyzová and Eduard Ganoczy. These gifted young designers not only entertain and challenge expectations of what fashion can mean, but also reveal what forms of design are possible. These creative individuals have the ideas and they also have the technical skills to make them come to life.
