Central Saint Martins M.A., 2012

Figures that I would get the flu the first day I'm guaranteed to like something from this round of the Fashion Weeks. Yesterday was the Central Saint Martins' show, where 20 MA graduates held their breath and crossed their fingers, hoping that the historical luck this school has bestowed upon its graduates would continue to be passed onto them. I was slightly worried that sleeping for the last 15 hours or so had heavily sedated the 'I like that' portion of my brain, as I had gone through 139 of the 198 photos (on UK Vogue.com) before I saw something that would cause me to actually sit up and post. But, as it always goes, the second time around made some other pieces stand out. I'll start with the second-round runners up before I get to my favorite graduate collection.

1) Helen Lawrence - Helen's collection gives a glimpse into what Sally's wardrobe would have looked like if Alexander McQueen had been brought on board for The Nightmare Before Christmas. For those of you that made it to the Savage Beauty exhibit, I'm thinking of that leather dress (from the A/W 00/01 collection) in the back corner, beside the alligator head jacket...

2) Hellen van Rees - With everything being remade and rereleased as 3D nowadays, someone was bound to take traditional fashion such as the Channel suit and add that extra dimension. Hellen decided it was up to her.

3) Jessie Hands - My go-to washroom in Manhattan is the main NY Public Library. Not only is it generally quiet and clean, but everything is also made of marble. Jessie's collection looks like someone took a big potato peeler to the stall partitions to see just how well marble drapes. And how.

4) Yulia Kondranina - If Yulia is looking for a summer job, I would strongly suggest that she goes a-knocking on Barbara Í Gongini's door. I think she would fit in quite well there.

5) Yifang Wan - My vote for best collection out of the bunch goes to Yifang. I'm not sure what that wood/boomerang looking piece is that is included in every piece, but I like it. I'd pretty much wear everything in the collection, actually.

(Photos via Style.com - my go-to site for Fashion Week updates is UK Vogue.com, but Style.com adds in the names of each designer for the CSM show)