‘Transformation’ is a unique project supported by Swarovski and Sophie Hallette (the French lace maker established in 1887) for the Royal College of Art in London.

Under this project, Womenswear, Knitwear, Millinery, Footwear, Accessories and Jewellery students create pieces that challenge the traditional perceptions of lace and crystal in fashion.

The 2009 Gala

Together with Sophie Hallette and Swarovski, eight groups of students from different creative disciplines designed 8 outfits focusing on the fusion of luxury fashion and young vibrant women’s wear. The objective of this challenging project is to bring crystal and lace to a young, fashion-aware customer.

As a leading exponent of this crossover, Designer Erdem Moralioglu worked with the students as tutor and mentor.

“We are delighted with the overall outcome of this project,” says Nadja Swarovski, Vice President of International Communications Swarovski. “As an educational exercise, it was particularly exciting and rewarding, and the standard overall was extremely high. The students all demonstrated imagination, ingenuity and technical skills, rising to the challenge beautifully.”

The event culminated in a prestigious fashion show held at the Royal College Gala ceremony.

The winning duo

The idea to do something ‘quietly powerful’; a considered showpiece that said something new about crystal and lace made Danielle Romeril, 25 and Rachael Colley, 24 stand out as winners.

“It was important to both of us that the jewellery element became an integral part of the clothing and vice-versa. The inspiration for some of the decorative details came from pre-seventeenth century crowns that had had the precious gems removed for safekeeping. These ‘skeleton’ crowns without the stones were especially exciting. We juxtaposed this imagery with that of industrial mines and miners to create a hard, polished machine-like feel in terms of jewellery and applied decoration,” reveals Romeril.