Bally and Central Saint Martins Collaboration

The third project from this partnership sees a shift from the students creating an entire collection to a focus on giving students insight into the operations of a globally esteemed company.

With inspirations varying from a dancing bear wearing a telephone costume, to a seemingly headless child playing with a toy dinosaur, you would be forgiven for expecting something slightly more audacious from CSM student Alice Bastin. But what we got from the womenswear designer (who comes with a year of experience from Celine's London HQ under her belt) was a beautifully tailored men’s plunge coat in cream leather.

Taking the idea of pulling shoulders in front of the body, Bastin created organic, rounded shapes, making arms appear almost stuck on. Add to that the exposed seams, a zip-front opening concealed with guard and popper fastenings and meticulously hand-stitched sleeves, and you have a sculptured, three-dimensional piece with a luxuriously Spartan sensibility.

Flat square pieces with cut-outs (to allow for construction and deconstruction alike) were the central motif of Mei Lim Cooper's ribbed coat, which can also be worn back-to-front as a jumper. Using super-soft leather, cashmere and suede, draping, layering and crumpling were the essence of the Central Saint Martin MA graduate's experiments. Stunning in its simplicity, she created new proportions and rethought modern dressing.

MA Fashion Director Louise Wilson praised the partnership, saying, ‘The collaboration has allowed our students a unique opportunity to take their work in new directions by seeing through the development of pieces for such a prestigious brand as