2023 Graduating Fashion Show Highlight
Special spotlight on BFA in Fashion Design senior student Daisy Sleiman
Sleiman, a 22 year-old Middle Eastern designer, presented her graduating collecting of 10 looks to a panel of jury members, well-known professionals in the industry, Thomas Zylberman, trend and fashion designer at Carlin Creative Trend Bureau, Natalia Culebra, head of Sustainable Design Dior Men/ head designer of Shirts & Denim PAP Dior Homme, Lucas Delattre, full time professor at L’Institut Français de la Mode, Jerome Bloch, creative director, senior trend analyst and fashion consultant, Yuske Okabe, senior pattern maker at Bottega Veneta, Lluis Corujo, freelance fashion design and consultant at LLuis Coruj, Alyx-Marie Kleinsteiber, former chair of Fashion Design at PCA and brand manager at Y/ Project, Sophie Blivet, womenswear designer and creative pattern maker.
Her collection, Seen, inspired by the word sin and the Arabic letter Šin, is based on a turnaround of the seven deadly sins into what Sleiman calls heavenly sins, exploring other ways to look at sin, anger and pain, from the perspective of someone who once was a refugee and went through the different stages of grief. Coming from Lebanon, a country that has known a lot of hardships and bloodshed, the designer uses fabric manipulation as an allegory: “there is a way to change and manipulate (the country’s situation) just as you do with fabric”. Sleiman integrates the cultural influence of her country of origin and that of the Emirates where she grew up, through prints and textile manipulation.
On top of designing her final collection, the artist went back to Lebanon to shoot a fashion film using her family homes as backdrops, which was screened en avant-première at her graduating fashion show.
Her plans for the future include showing her fall 2022/23 Ready to Wear collection in Paris during Fashion Week in September, as well as developping her brand. When asked what advice she would like to share with anyone interested in studying fashion, Daisy answers
“Do it! Don’t let anyone tell you no!”
