Madonna makes surprise appearance at college graduation show

Leah Dolan, CNN

Madonna and FKA Twigs were spotted front row at the Central Saint Martins (CSM) undergraduate fashion show on Tuesday. The prestigious art school — known for producing renowned designers Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Stella McCartney and Phoebe Philo — held its annual show in London’s Kings Cross area, where students exhibited their graduate collections to a crowd of friends, family, buyers and fashion editors.

According to Women’s Wear Daily, Madonna arrived in a Moschino studded leather jacket and boombox-shaped bag by Midnight Studios. While FKA Twigs embodied cyberpunk chic in a pair of spiral, serpent printed hoops by independent jewelers Panconesi and dystopian Gareth Pugh platform lace-up boots.

Designs on the runway ranged from political to futuristic, with one designer sending 3D QR codes down the catwalk. When scanned, users were taken to a specially engineered Instagram filter that contained renders of the designs. Another look included a transparent pregnant stomach.

L’Oréal Professionnel, a partner of CSM for more than 20 years, collaborated with the university yet again to offer the Young Talent Award which grants cash prizes to three graduates each year. Previous winners include designers Grace Wales Bonner and Richard Quinn. This year, knitwear designer Alice Morell Evans received the grand prize for her sculptural crochet pieces. Runners up included womenswear designer Emil Dernbach and Fashion Design and Marketing graduate, Diana Sträng.

Both FKA Twigs and Madonna have a pre-existing relationship with the college. Rocco Ritchie, Madonna’s son, currently studies Fine Art at Central Saint Martins. Whereas FKA Twigs regularly supports the CSM alumni — often wearing designs created by freshly graduated artists, like the wet look dress she wore during a Jools Holland performance by Dimitri Petsa in 2019. This year, the artist enlisted the help of final year fashion student, Yasmin Whitlock, to create some of the props used in her most recent mixtape video “CAPRISONGS.”

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