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Kai Ghattaura and Fin Forsyth · London21 September 2026

Kai Ghattaura and Fin Forsyth's Glister: the off-schedule London show by two Central Saint Martins graduates, clothes from curtains, carpets and Royal Mail bags

Kai Ghattaura and Fin Forsyth's Glister was an off-schedule London show: no place on the official calendar, their own venue, their own crowd. The pair describe the world of the collection as built from Tumblr-era aesthetics, emojis, charity shop finds and car boot bric-a-brac: "A bit nostalgic, a bit ridiculous, and hopefully quite magical." Working without sketches is a method, they say, because the best way to make something new is to work in a way you haven't before. Their previous show, A Scattered Dream, was produced with no budget at all. The cardboard house was built on site by the set designers no2without1, and Maurice Sendak's book gave the room its crowns. Attachment is the idea underneath the recycled cloth: what a bedsheet or a post bag is worth once somebody has loved it.

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The post, as it ran

01KAI GHATTAURA AND FIN FORSYTH STAGED THEIR OWN SHOW OUTSIDE THE LONDON FASHION WEEK SCHEDULE ON 19 SEPTEMBER, IN A BETHNAL GREEN WAREHOUSE. THEY CALLED IT GLISTER.

02BOTH TRAINED AT CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS, THE LONDON ART SCHOOL. THEY ARE PARTNERS IN LIFE AS WELL AS IN WORK.

03THE TITLE COMES FROM SHAKESPEARE'S THE MERCHANT OF VENICE: ALL THAT GLISTERS IS NOT GOLD. THEIR SUBJECT IS HOW SHINY ADULTHOOD LOOKS FROM THE OUTSIDE.

04THE CLOTHES ARE MADE FROM OLD CURTAINS, BEDSHEETS, CARPETS, ROYAL MAIL BAGS AND BUILDING SITE TARPAULINS.

05THEY WORK WITH NO SKETCHES AND NO PLAN. THE PIECES LOOK CHILDLIKE, AND THE MAKING IS GROWN-UP.

06INSIDE STOOD AN ENORMOUS CARDBOARD HOUSE BY THE ARTIST CORBIN SHAW. A PAPER CROWN WAITED ON EVERY SEAT, AFTER THE CHILDREN'S BOOK WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE.

07MODELS WORE ANIMAL MASKS: FOXES, BIRDS, A PLATYPUS. FABRIC WAS WRAPPED AT NECKS AND KNEES AND WORN AS ARM WARMERS. A GIANT FIDGET SPINNER CLOSED THE SHOW.

08THE MAKE-UP ARTIST NICKY HARRINGTON COVERED ONE MODEL ENTIRELY IN FUCHSIA GLITTER, AND ANOTHER IN SILVER.

09STUDENTS AND GRADUATES QUEUED DOWN CAMBRIDGE HEATH ROAD TO GET IN, MANY OF THEM WEARING CLOTHES THEY HAD MADE THEMSELVES.

10THEIR AIM, IN THEIR OWN WORDS: "WE WANT PEOPLE TO SMILE, FEEL A BIT BEWILDERED." THEY HAD NO SLOT ON THE OFFICIAL SCHEDULE. THE ROOM WAS FULL ANYWAY.

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