More than 100 designs by students on Edinburgh College of Art’s Performance Costume programme will be presented during three theatrical shows at the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, on Friday 15 May.
The annual show brings together the creative flair and technical talent of graduating students, showcasing costumes designed for theatre, film, opera and dance, alongside group performances from first, second and third-year students.
Colourful creations
This year’s enchanting show includes the magical winged cat-like character inspired by Disney Pixar’s blockbuster animation Coco. A brightly-coloured, mystical hybrid, featuring an illuminating ram-horned jaguar head and neon wings.
Student Ciara Burns recreated the creature, known as Pepita, with a large, horned cat head and feathers sweeping down both arms in a bold palette of bright yellow, purple and green.
Nuala Dunbar’s impressive design recreates Truffaldino, a jester from the 1761 play, The Love of Three Oranges by Italian playwright Carlo Gozzi.
The impish character has been recrafted through a lens of absurdism, drawing on inspiration from 1980s club kids and the fashion designer Leigh Bowery. The brightly-coloured, patterned jester wears a hat with three red arms circling away from it.
Timeless tales
Jennifer Bedlington’s costume retells the story of children’s classic Rapunzel, with the character holding a cascading plait of hair and donning a chest of armour with floral cut-outs.
Blending historical silhouettes from the 12th and 14th centuries with contemporary techniques, feminist themes are drawn from the traditional fairy tale.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s timeless tale, beloved by children and adults alike, The Little Prince is the inspiration behind Millie McCann’s eye-catching costume.
The Businessman – a comic, materialistic character consumed by wealth – dons an oversized navy and yellow suit with a giant tie emblazoned with numbers.
Catherine Jeffrey draws on Art Nouveau and Celtic design from the La Tene period in her sci-fi reinterpretation of the Mad Hatter from Lewis Carroll’s beloved Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Dressed in hues of blues and gold, the Mad Hatter’s traditional top hat is abandoned in favour of a striking gold-horned headdress.
Reimagined characters
Set in Berlin during the rise of Nazism, the nightclub owner that narrates the show is reimagined as going through a transformation into a praying mantis. He is dressed in a fully tailored 1920s tailcoat and uniform breeches with exaggerated insect features.
Other dramatic designs on show include Ratty from The Wind in the Willows, a ballet-inspired reimagination of Penelope from Homer’s Odyssey and an ethereal design of Diva Plavalaguna from the cult sci-fi film The Fifth Element.
