UAL Showcase is a flagship digital showcasing platform made for the students of UAL. Be it bespoke collections curated by industry leaders or exciting projects by students from across colleges of UAL, the showcase platform is a treasure trove of creativity. The platform has viewers from over 200 territories in the world with some of the top viewed projects receiving over 2000 views. Every year is seeing an increase in the number of views of the showcase platform with 1.3 million views in the last year alone. It’s an opportunity for students to have their work viewed by employers and collaborators.
We talked to graduates of London College of Fashion (LCF), Jay Cho and Kira Locke, to learn about their experience with UAL Showcase.
Tell us about your experience of uploading your project on UAL Showcase platform.
Kira: The process was pretty effortless. With the combination of the brief provided and communication from those working internally on the Graduate Showcase it was easy to make edits throughout and feel confident that my work was being shown in its best light.
Jay: We had received communication about the platform. I went to the site to explore and get motivated by the projects. The process itself was quite easy and it didn’t take me more than 20 minutes to upload everything.
What was the inspiration behind your Showcase project?
Jay: I was looking into a couple of South Korea brands and saw this brand that has grown a lot in the past few years and I was intrigued by it. Thug Club is a streetwear brand. London has an amazing streetwear culture and its Gen Z consumers are one of the leading consumers of the fashion industry, I wanted to explore how Thug Club could be launched in the UK with them as the target audience.
Kira: “For the Money” was inspired by the sort of golden prison that is working as any type of creative — specifically in the fashion industry, but I think it’s universally applicable. It’s basically satirizing the delicate dance that is feeding yourself creatively or literally for so many people in the initial part of their careers. Looking back on it, I kind of laugh, but in that moment, it felt all too real, so I used the opportunity to make work about my reality at that time.
What was the best part about getting your project on the UAL Showcase?
Jay: Uploading my project on UAL Showcase was good step for me because I got to meet some great people because of that. Before uploading my project, I looked into UAL Showcase to see the kind of projects there and get inspired and motivated by them. I found a project by a South Korean student, Joeng Seo Han, which was similar to my project and I reached out to him for advice. We chatted a lot about our projects and it was really helpful. After having my project published on UAL Showcase, a lot of people reached out to me. I’ve also had people who were applying to study at LCF reach out to me. They had found my project while researching the course and wanted to get my advice on the application process. I’ve had some interesting conversations and made connections through that.
Kira: I think my favourite thing about uploading my project to the Graduate Showcase was the opportunity to have what was essentially a mass-critique from my peers, the general public, and individuals in my industry. It takes your work out of the academia vacuum it’s been existing in prior to the Showcase, which I think is important for anyone’s artistic development and practical real-world application. I’ve been connected with a wide variety of people who have reached out to me via the Graduate Showcase — it’s a great networking opportunity that also allows you to connect your portfolio with people in a user-friendly way when they might not otherwise come across it. I would also say that it was quite inspiring to see everyone else’s work in one place; both the diversity and quality of the work was nice to see.
Why do you think graduating students should upload on UAL Showcase?
Kira: You’ve spent this much time and effort creating a body of work that is a representation of what you’ve learned over the course of your MA, if nothing else, uploading it to the Graduate Showcase is a kind of ceremonious conclusion to what you have accomplished. Show it off — you never know who will come across it!
Jay: They should definitely upload. First, it costs nothing. It doesn’t take that much time. It widens your possibilities and will open up a lot of opportunities. It’s a good way to show your work. I would say it’s a must.
Jay Cho is a BA (Hons) Fashion Marketing graduate (2023). In his UAL Showcase project, he looks into the South Korean brand Thug Club and their introduction into the UK Fashion scene.
Kira Locke is a multidisciplinary artist with an emphasis on digital still and moving imagery who studied MA Fashion Photography at LCF. In her UAL Showcase project, she explores the duality of aspiration versus situational circumstance.
UAL Showcase will see a fresh batch of student work with #LCF24. Check out more student work and collections on UAL Showcase.