How alien bodies have helped fashion new catwalk creation

MANNEQUINS which aim to challenge conventional fashion stereotypes have been used by students at Sheffield Hallam University in a bid to help them create original catwalk designs.

The six mannequins were the idea of lecturer Lesley Campbell and have now gone on display in an exhibition entitled Alien Body, which opens on Saturday, in the university’s Cantor Building.

Ms Campbell said she had the mannequins made to challenge students to be more creative and think about designing clothes to less conventional templates.

She said abandoning the constraints of a size 12 model could lead fashion students to explore new areas of design.

Ms Campbell added: “Alien Body is an exhibition of contemporary fashion, based on a direct response to an irregular form.

“Conventionally, shapes and forms are derived from two- dimensional flat pattern cutting experiences

“These mannequins provide a mechanism for direct threedimensional experimentation into unusual forms.”

The Alien Bodies have been created by padding a conventional size 12 female mannequin until it no longer resembles a conventional shape.

The exhibition display comprises of six “alien bodies” and a selection of garments from BA Fashion Design students.

PICTURES: CHRIS LAWTON. OUT OF THIS WORLD: Lecturer Lesley Campbell with one of the garments designed for an ‘Alien Body’ which is on display at Sheffield Hallam University’s gallery.

FIGURE IT OUT: Fashion design students Rebecca Garnett, left, and Charlotte Fellows with their garments created for the exhibition. Martin Slack