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Here’s what to expect from FUZE 2021

UK’s largest student-led fashion show are performing at Lakota Gardens on the 3rd and 4th June


The annual FUZE show will be back this year with their chosen theme of “Utopia”, an interpretation of the “new normal” and an exploration of what perfection really looks like to them.

The theme was inspired by the pandemic and entering a new world that champions “equality, inclusivity and diversity, a space where people are free to be themselves”.

Created in 2003, FUZE is the UK’s largest student led fashion show completely organised and performed by Bristol students.

FUZE is known for celebrating creativity, sustainability, diversity and inclusion. Held at Lakota Gardens, the audience can expect a “theatrical fashion musical”, with hybrid models singing, dancing and performing the choreography of multi-talented creatives.

Throughout this year, the student run collective have not let the pandemic stop them and have created Covid safe events and initiatives. The annual show will be no different. The audience will be sat in six-person bubbles and can enjoy table service throughout the show. There will be four shows across the 3rd and 4th of June with capacity for over 1,200 attendees.

One of the best parts of the show is that all profits are divided between charities. To date, they have raised more than £125,000. This year FUZE’s chosen charities are Art Refuge and Black South West Network.

Art Refuge use art therapy to support the mental health and well-being of people displaced due to conflict persecution and poverty. Black South West are a BAME-led organisation delivering race equality work. Both FUZE and Black South West Network recognise the importance of ensuring fair representation in the creative sector.

Pippa Adamthwaite-Cook, FUZE’s managing director, told The Bristol Tab, the show was: “inspired by fashion moments ranging from the MET Gala to 90s Thierry Mugler archive pieces, flamboyance and the ‘camp’ aesthetic”.

She went on to say: “I would in turn hope to create a natural symbiosis between vivacious commercial-style choreography and lavish couture, drawn from and referencing innovative designers on the margins of society.

“These design references too will be based on an ethical foundation of sustainability – avoiding ‘fast fashion’ and promoting ecological alternatives to fashion consumerism.

“I understand the danger of appropriation when aligning one’s aesthetic with the idea of ‘camp’ or the avant-garde; too often are minority designers stepped over and stolen from by mainstream culture.

“My approach to this would be to insistently pay homage to the appropriate communities from which the design references are made. Ultimately, I want a seamless experience in which each element of FUZE is indubitably tied together”.

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