Columbia Road

These four graduate collections are rooted in hope. They are a reminder that the next generation can change our world. Shooting in Columbia market symbolises a place of growth – a space where new things bloom.

Rebekah Roy

I have always wanted to own a garden one day and to curate a space that is vibrant with a mass of colour, pattern, and shape. Gardens, for me, are a place of safety and a place for sharing in optimism with others. However, I have often been told that my dream of owning a garden won’t come true due to the cost of living crisis. This collection of work symbolises me fighting back – if I can’t own a garden for now, I shall build a garden that can immerse my wearers into a walkable garden.

Olivia MuSson Grace

The patterns on the garments are printed with oil pastel drawings I have drawn of gardens that are close to my heart. The two dresses both have fabric made from paper entwined into the looks. I created this fabric by felting mulberry paper together and treating it with oil. The end result feels a lot like a soft suade.

The larger mantua dress is built up of many many layers that can be deconstructed and worn separately if desired. The large coat is made from 20 metres of duchess satin and has a frame built into it to maintain that grand immersive silhouette.

Each garment was a huge labour of love from beginning to end, and they all involved a lot of work:
I used the Japanese art technique of momigami to transform paper into a fabric like material. It is achieved by kneading the paper with oil and creating a crinkled, textured surface that becomes maluable. I find it to be quite a meditative process as you have to maintain your gentleness so as to not rip the paper.

I love the idea that garments inspired by flowers have been photographed amongst this vibrant flower market. To see my work in the context of gardens was such a joy. The garments come to life when they are worn and allowed to move like plants with their shapes and colours merging with their surroundings.

My name is Anton Femia and I’m a recent graduate from Womenswear at Central Saint Martins who’s work mostly surrounds the natural world and notions of European folklore and pagan spirituality.

The theme for this collection was a walk in my hometown’s forest in Belgium. As the collection starts, you enter the forest and notice the snails, the spiderwebs, the mushrooms… Belgium is a very wet place, so the moss and insects thrive here. The more you delve into the collection, the more you go into the heart of the forest, both physical and metaphysical, so the references start to get more fantastical and fairytale-like. You encounter a human insect or faerie, a secret garden, and finally a corpse, and the summit of it all, the witch. Mostly referenced in shapes and colours is Art Nouveau, a very important part of Belgian culture and history. It focuses, like my collection, on nature, life and decay.

Anton Femia

My memories of walking in the forest at dawn or dusk are the ones that shaped the collection into what it is now. These are the moments of stillness when the animals feel the most at ease to come out, and you can make all sorts of encounters — deer, boars, foxes… Either in the lush spring or in the autumn when everything turns golden, there are always new things to discover and emotions to feel: joy, fear, peace, or just quiet.

Nature has, of course, a huge impact on my practice. When I lived in Belgium, it was illustrative of my life there, and when I left for London, it became commemorative. For me, spending time in the forest is akin to a religious experience, as it is healing and spiritual. The way I see it, you’re a teabag full of negative emotions, and a walk in the forest, day or night, is a cup of warm water ready to clean you from everything. In London, going to the flower market was a good way of experiencing this nature again, finding new and interesting shapes and textures to translate into embroidery.

Storytelling is at the heart of my design where personal reflection and textile exploration merge, creating garments that aim to capture an ethereal and otherworldly beauty.

My collection is inspired by my exploration of the subconscious mind, reflecting on dream journals, fleeting thoughts, and the feeling of drifting beyond the present moment. The progression of the collection follows a descent into deep sleep, expressing the gradual immersion in dreams through my use of textile techniques, which transform softness and lightness into the ethereal haze of my dreamscape realities.

Georgia brown

Each piece is special to me in their own way.
I really loved the making of the fabric for the corset in the second look as i was recreating my ‘mindless doodles’ found in my notebooks but using string as my pencil. The intuitive process of making the line patterns felt like I was really immersing myself in my exploration of subconscious thought as I could zone out and just see where the textile design took me.

The flower market feels like a harmonious setting for my work through the lens of fleeting existence. A flower reaches its peak of fullness and vibrancy before it inevitably declines, just as thoughts and dreams that pass through our minds also will become fading memories, blurry and forgotten. I think there is a melancholic beauty in both of these processes.

My name is Maria Mayson, and I am a fashion designer from Greece. I recently graduated with a degree in fashion from the University of Edinburgh. My design is rooted in personal experience, with the intention of empowering others who share similar journeys by helping them feel seen and understood.
Women are always central to my work. I create garments that evoke power, femininity, and a deep connection to one’s true essence. Through my designs, I seek to honour mothers, daughters, and friends navigating a world shaped by patriarchy and misogyny.

Nature is a vital part of my creative process. We are intrinsically connected to it, and for me, connecting with nature is synonymous with connecting with oneself. This relationship is reflected in every piece I create, as I strive to foster a deeper connection to Mother Earth, my greatest source of inspiration.

Maria Mayson

Growing up in a deeply religious household, where acceptance and freedom were scarce, I found my refuge among the trees. This collection emerged from that intimacy, exploring religion not as it was handed to me. It is the embodiment of creation itself, unfolding through the narrative of Genesis. Each piece corresponds to one of the six days, with the world gradually taking shape through texture, form, and movement.

The first image that came to me was a tree I used to climb on a Greek island, bathed in golden sunlight. That tree became the foundation of the collection, a symbol of freedom and authenticity. Through this tree, the collection took shape. With each day, new fabrics were born: pleated and layered piece by piece, organza combined with metal fibres and gold, forming living, organic silhouettes. Bark-like textures, layered surfaces, and movement.

The final look is dedicated to Eve, the original woman, embodying the complex tension between agency and judgment. Eve stands as both a symbol of rebellion and wisdom – viewed by some as the first feminist, and by others as the bearer of humanity’s fall. Central to the collection is the interplay between nature’s purity and society’s imposed shame. Accessories from horns, wrapped around models’ heads and necks, critique religious dogma by symbolising the dehumanisation of “sinners” and the suppression of individuality.

Ultimately, this collection is a dialogue between religious structures and natural identity. An expression of frustration transformed into a love letter to Mother Earth. It celebrates femininity, our innate connection to nature, and the beauty of reclaiming creation through one’s own lens, showing the power and resilience of women and the natural world alike.

Everything I create is shaped by my surroundings and by a constant sense of awe toward the natural world. I’m deeply drawn to textures and colours; they awaken my senses and spark curiosity, excitement, and creative flow. To me, the rhythm of nature mirrors the creative process itself. It is beautiful at every stage.
The flower market embodied this feeling perfectly. It heightened all my senses, not only through the abundance of colour and life, but also through the energy of people moving around and observing the work as it came to life. That shared experience added an extra layer of excitement. The flower market is a place where the city pauses to collectively admire nature, where people gather to take a small piece of beauty home for themselves or their loved ones.
That is exactly what I aim to do with my clothing: take fragments of nature and transform them into stories, into wearable art that allows people to express themselves and carry a piece of that beauty with them.