The Fashion Alliance North ‘26 Summer Show: How Grassroots Fashion Uses Community Roots to Blossom

Echoing chamber corridors, an enduringly vivacious score provided by local musician Koj, and irreverent stained glass windows casting a midsummer glow onto the runway. This was the scene laid out in front of us at Lutyen’s Crypt residing humbly beneath Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral at the Fashion Alliance North 2: Under the City event. Members of the University of York Fashion Society and I arrived ‘fashionably’ late to the event, having taken a wrong turn, but we marched on regardless. This left us entering the fashion show, the initial show rather than the press show, immediately overwhelmed by the glamour and grunge that awaited us.

The theme of the show was clear: grunge urban looks, but elevated in a way that pushes the envelope out towards glamourising previously underrepresented areas. You could practically smell the wet concrete and Chanel No.5 that are bumping shoulders in the concepts presented. Outfits reminiscent of the local 90s club scene were reimagined, with neons and print cascading down the models like a nostalgic waterfall of all manner of textile. This in itself would have been a spectacle to behold, however many of the designs were subverted using asymmetrical cuts across the torso to create a silhouette not common during that time period, bringing these clothes into the 21st century. On the makeup side, all products were provided by Revolution and then used by the talented individuals at City of Liverpool College to craft eye-catching visages for the models. Strikingly, in one designer’s case, bruises and cuts were created with SFX makeup to create roughneck personas which complimented the modelled looks greatly.

Notably, Liverpool and Leeds, the origin cities for the universities the designers were sourced from, have a fraught history with national media villainising the working-class residents. The idea that urban streetwear from such a place would end up in success stories, such as Montirex becoming world famous fashion brands, would have been unheard of twenty or thirty years ago. I currently write this article during a tumultuous period wherein those of immigrant backgrounds are being cast in an unfair light, previously unseen in the Liverpool city region at such a large volume. Riots are forming on roads I grew up on, destruction has been ongoing, and civil unrest has been at heights not seen in quite some years. However, there is pushback, and it carries the will of the city. The technique, skill, and craftmanship proven in this show by people of all backgrounds portrays a certain notion: that diversity is integral for a rich culture, not only in fashion, but in every sector.

By Thomas Sefton 

RUNNING ORDER / SHOW NUMBER 1 

1) ELIZABETH BUNTER (Womenswear - LJMU) 

2) NOAH CLARK (Menswear - LBU) 

3) ERIN WALKER (Womenswear - LJMU) 

4) MILLY CLARIDGE (Womenswear - LBU) 

5) CHYNAE BROWN (Menswear & Womenswear - LBU)

6) ZACK MORTON (Womenswear - LBU) 

7) MARJANE BENYOUB (Womenswear - LJMU) 

8) ADELAIDE COUPLAND (Womenswear - LBU) 

9) MORGAN BLACKLEDGE (Menswear - LJMU) 

10) ESTELLE BARKER (Womenswear - LBU) 

11) KHAIRUNNISA (HERU) NASSAR (Menswear - LBU) 

12) REBECCA FISHPOOL (Womenswear - LJMU) 

13) MOLLY REDMOND (Genderless - LBU) 

14) DAISY CRAIG (Womenswear - LJMU) 

15) FREYA ATHERTON (Womenswear - LBU) 

16) CHLOE SQUIRES (Womenswear - LBU) 

17) POPPY CARMICHAEL (Womenswear - LBU) 

18) EMILY WEBB (Genderless - LJMU) 

19) LACEY ELLIOTT (Womenswear - LBU) 

20) MIA FEATHERSTONE (Womenswear - LBU) 

21) NYREE PICKARD-DUMAS (Womenswear - LBU) 

22) ALY DAVIES (Womenswear - LJMU) 

23) FREYA FIRTH (Womenswear - LJMU) 

24) BRADLEY SMITH (Menswear - LBU) 

25) LOUISE LECLERC (Womenswear - LBU) 

26) SASHA SCHOLES (Womenswear - LJMU) 

27) AINE DOYLE (Womenswear - LJMU) 

28) APRIL CHARLESWORTH (Womenswear - LBU) 

29) KATIE EVANS (Womenswear - LJMU) 

30) MICHELLE DAPAAH (Womenswear - LBU) 

31) LILY-ROSE THOMPSON (Menswear & Womenswear - LJMU) 

32) ANNA LLOWARCH (Womenswear - LJMU) 

33) CHARLOTTE JACKSON (Womenswear - LJMU) 

34) JOYCE KOTEI (Menswear & Womenswear - LBU) 

35) JESSE JAMES (Menswear - LJMU) 

36) GRACE ELLIS (Womenswear - LJMU) 

37) SINEAD FRANCIS (Menswear & Womenswear - LBU) 

38) LUCY ROACH (Womenswear - LJMU)