i do it just 4 you
4th year anniversary tees now live for online purchase
Hi guys! Grace here. Introducing our 4th year anniversary tee - Wow. It’s been 4 years of BFA runways.
When Helen, Kath, Des, and I started this project we had no idea that it would continue for this long. We just wanted to present our work properly and equitably amongst students from our year. Nothing amazing is ever done in isolation.
If you know me at all, you might know that I love a graphic tee (I’m famously a vintage abercrombie addict) - and well Helen and I love graphic design in general (we had to get really good at it for this project). But when I was reflecting on the past 4 years and this moment. I started to think about why we do it. It’s a question I've asked myself a lot.
Oftentimes people look at the fashion world as this exclusionary idiotic thing. All about perception and lacking substance. (And to be honest, half of the time that can be the case). But this moment is so important. And this show is so important.
Fashion is a form of communication. The people who go into fashion design are those who have something buried deep inside of them that they are searching to get out in some way. There is a message that maybe is too muddled to explain any other way than to make a collection, put it on the body, and let the runway do the presenting.
I do it just 4 you
It’s a statement about the effort to translate. To take an idea that’s burning in your heart and spend hours of your time executing. It is a rare thing. It’s a beautiful thing. And it’s wonderful that we have been able to develop a platform for people in their early twenties to do this. To present the work in a way that honors the amount of time spent from conception to execution.
Presentation isn’t everything, but I’d argue it’s just as important as the work itself. And sharing your world is scary. Even for the most seemingly confident of us, sharing our world is scary. To say:
“hey world look at me, I think this of you, I made this for you, this is what I think about, this is what I believe in, this is my journey, this is what I’ve been through, this is my lived history..."
It takes guts. Some people spend a lifetime making beautiful things and not sharing them, but the designers in our show do it just 4 you.
Because what would the world be without creation? And the audience at our show is so lucky they get to see work like this. It is work that stands on its own - separate from a business - no merchandising, or sales, or influencers trying to peddle you something, etc etc etc. It is work that stands on its own and it is just about the idea of it. Most people never get the chance to make work like this in their lifetime. And well, I believe everyone deserves their moment. After school, both the industry and the world become a lot more complicated.
81 designers. After 4 years, we have a group of 81 designers (+4 directors who are not designers but understand and execute the mission)
i do it just 4 you
It’s the acknowledgment that the work wants and deserves to be seen. That the culminating moment of your time spent at BFA is not just for a grade or a job or for press or for images to post online. But it’s for the work to be seen. For the thoughts in your head to be appreciated. For the work to be looked at in a room full of people. Designers, we do it just 4 you.
Thank you to ‘23 designer Aliya Hidirlar for modeling the tee and for selling them with me at the show. We have more available for online purchase. I will fulfill twice a month until they are gone - once at the end of the month and once in the middle.
Purchasing a tee helps us to continue this show as me, Helen, and Desmond make plans for year 5. Thanks so much to everyone who has supported us on this journey so far.