Glasgow Charity Fashion Show 2024: What the theme ‘DREAMS’ means to the creative director

The Glasgow Charity Fashion Show is one of the largest student-led fundraisers in the UK. An extravagant homage to both local creatives and charity work, GCFS partners with a new organisation each year to put on a show and raise incredible funds – last year’s raised a record-breaking £44,000 for Glasgow and Clyde Rape Crisis.

This upcoming February show marks 10 years since the first production, partnered with the Glasgow-based charity Impact Arts.

The theme of GCFS 2023/2024 is “DREAMS”, thought up by Maeve Gorman. Maeve is this year’s creative director, and I got to talk to her about why this show will be worth seeing. We discuss the inspirations behind her creative concept and a little bit about this year’s charity, Impact Arts.

This year “Dreams” is GCFS’s creative concept.  Maeve said it is a “celebration of imagination, escapism and fantasy in a world in which reality can be nightmarish. Dreams float in the liminal space between fantasy and reality, taking the viewer through a dream sequence of highs and lows, hope and fear, ecstasy and oblivion.

‘Dreams will take the viewer through a sequence of five different dreamscapes (our shoots) and each shoot captures a different feeling, emotion, nightmare or reality.’

Maeve said that the show sits between escapism and realism, with the creative vision urging us that “we need to dream”.

She said: “We need to dream to escape the fear and claustrophobia endemic in contemporary society….GCFS’s Dreams will transport the viewer to a dreamland where anything and everything is possible. “

This year, GCFS is raising money for Impact Arts, which Maeve said is “an incredible Glasgow-based charity, whose unifying mission is to tackle societal inequalities through creative engagement.

‘Through a series of different collaborative art and arts therapy workshops, the charity delivers well-being and core-skills support to those most vulnerable within our Glaswegian community. ‘

When asked about why GCFS specifically chose Impact Arts, Maeve said the committee chose to partner with the charity due to their emphasis on improving lives directly through creativity. She said this idea is “also central to our values as a creative and charitable organisation”.

Glasgow Charity Fashion Show recently rebranded from Glasgow University Charity Fashion Show. When asked what prompted this change, Maeve said it was centred on making the society more inclusive and accessible to students across Glasgow, not just at the University of. She said that this ultimately helps to raise more money for Impact Arts and continue to grow GCFS in the future.

She said that this year they “have committee members and models from GSA, GCU and Strathclyde as well as Glasgow University”, saying they “felt as though it was important to emphasise this through the rebrand”.

When we asked her who should buy tickets for the event, she said: “Everyone and anyone! It is going to be the event of the year. You really don’t want to miss it. Our 10th year promises to be our best yet!” Tickets are on sale and already on final release.

Buy your tickets here.

Photography: Samuel J. Mitchell//@earl__sweatshirt

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