University Of Edinburgh: Scholars Showcase Costumes At Spectacular Show

The outfits and performers will command centre stage at a thrilling theatrical show at the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh on Friday 26 May, revealing the creations of students studying Performance Costume.

Dazzling designs
The captivating live shows – tickets for which are available to buy online at eventbrite – will feature more than 90 costumes displaying the inventiveness, technical skills and fresh ideas of ECA students.

Previous ECA Performance Costume shows have helped launch the careers of the next generation of designers and costume makers for live, film and digital performance.

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Success stories
Many students have gone on to have success in the industry with careers in TV, film and stage, including Anna Robbins costume designer for Downton Abbey: A New Era.

The dramatic display includes student Ryan Dai’s creation, Mid-World dancer, inspired by the imagined art of Patrick Danville, a character in Stephen King’s Dark Tower. The character reveals an erotic burlesque inspired presentation influenced by Surrealism artists.

Yarrow Frost’s costume is inspired by the novel Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke. The design for Roxanne – a medic who travels with the book’s heroine – features a leather jacket with gilded inserts in the sleeves to portray the edges of books, and pleated organza trousers with subtle imagery of botanical plants.

Dramatic costumes
The character Sleep from the musical A Button for Sleep by Valeri Petrov is brought to life by Anna Gradetchlieva. The delightful costume takes inspiration from the acclaimed artist and designer Erté’s illustrations for Vogue from the 1910’s, featuring women sitting on moons or with moon shaped headpieces.

Esme Hodgson’s creation redesigns the classic animation, Chicken Run with a costume for Ginger, the main protagonist and leader of the band of chickens. The design takes inspiration from workwear, the film The Great Escape – which inspired Chicken Run, the uniforms of the Land Army of the 1940s and 1960s female factory workers.

The Lady on the Grey, a character from Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book is the inspiration for Iona Lynch’s work. The character is inspired by Pre-Raphaelite models, German Expressionism and 20s cabaret performers to explore the differences in glamour in the early 20th century.

Inspired presentations
Holly Smith’s character is taken from a play she wrote called Tributary which is set along the banks of the Clyde in Glasgow. Eddy portrays a creature of Celtic folklore that has adapted to industrial surroundings. His appearance is influenced by streetwear and city architecture with references to humans’ mistreatment of the natural world.

The 1970s television series The Wombles – which celebrates its 50th birthday this year – inspired Biz Sutton’s creation of a giant Orinoco who has re-emerged from underground to attend an environmental protest. The figure is crafted from frayed yarn and woven raffia in an outfit incorporating food wrappers and non-recyclable materials to reflect the gathering of waste over time.

Performance costume alumni’s names feature in the credits of a huge range of productions including The Crown, Dune, Outlander, The Power, Dr Strange, Tetris and Games of Thrones and as well as stage productions for Northern Ballet, Royal Opera and the National theatre.

We are incredibly proud of all our students this year. Their creative spark, ingenuity and commitment has created outstanding work and this event showcases this work at its best.

Megan Baker
Programme Director of Performance Costume at Edinburgh College of Art