What do you get when you cross a group of English country gentlemen with a bunch of acid techno ravers? Jonty K. Mellmann has an idea. For his graduate collection, the designer envisions a new way to dress for the rave: ‘Crusty Countryside Partywear’. “It’s argyle meets acid techno, tweed for terrorcore fans and neon everything,” he says. . His BA collection is awash with classic staples of rave-wear – puffa jackets, acid house smiley faces – mish-mashed with tweeds and Wellington boots by Ruth Angel Edwards. While paying homage to rave culture and style, this collection also holds a very personal connection for Jonty – a jacket painted by his mum, the artist Susan Douglass. It’s a feast for the eyes, putting forward the designer’s own idea of rave clothing with “deadstock fabrics mixed with hi-vis and a patchwork fetish.”

Inspired by the traditions and ritualism of British boarding schools Harrow and Eton, his collection is “a romantic exploration of British public-school culture through queer eccentricity, frivolity and fanciful excess.” Through the lens of Brideshead Revisited, Steven depicts a 2020 update to elitist education. Building on his experiences working at Alexander McQueen and Tom Ford, he creates “considered and substantial menswear products” by referencing historical imagery, vintage garments and contemporary details. Regatta flower-adorned hats, white wool tennis coats and hypermasculine outerwear combine to “emulate the confusion of a systematically ‘homosocial’ culture.”

“I’m a little bit of a punk, so I decided that working for other people isn’t for me,” says Jakub Nowacki. For the Polish designer, gut feelings are everything. When creating his BA collection, he let his primal instincts guide his designs. Jakub starts every look by draping, creating a shape and experimenting with the silhouette repetitively until his intuition stops him. His work and his approach go beyond fashion and more abstractly, into art. “I love the fact that the way I create is so different,” he says. “It blurs the boundaries between art and fashion and I didn’t want to lose that and have someone else’s design aesthetic rub off on me.” As for the graduate show, he admits he’s excited, but isn’t impressed by the hype. “It’s just clothing at the end of the day so I’m trying to stay calm.”

Marina has taken inspiration from the ritualism of native folk dress to envision a radical heroine who “conquers her fate of damsel in distress.” This collection – entitled ‘The Complete Tales of Various Women and Others as Subaltern Natives’ – can be described easily in a word: whimsical. Although she is taking on fairly serious subject matter, the clothes are bright and wildly patterned, with curious proportions and silhouettes. Having interned at Walter Van Beirendonck, Trois Quarts Atelier, Peter Pilotto, Richard Malone and Mimi Wade, Marina has peppered their influences throughout her collection. Textures and prints clash haphazardly, fighting for attention. Peaches, stars and floral motifs provide a playful element across shirts, and shoes. Nothing about this collection is boring.

“It’s a playful take on purity and innocence versus deviant sexuality,” says BA designer Fennuala Butterfield. Inspired by 1970s kitsch, she looked to religious Christian garments, B-movies and adult films as her references. Her collection combines the silhouettes of traditional nun habits with the lively palette of 1970s makeup ads. The designer plays with sexual duality in her textiles by combining “sex shop” PVC and virgin cotton. Her message speaks to female sexuality, exploring the intensity of the Madonna-whore complex, but ultimately focusing on the contemporary woman’s ability to choose her own sexual freedom.