Harry Wadham – IGNITE

Geralt of Rivia

I looked at the Witcher game/book/Netflix series and reinterpreted the main character as a woman, with a focus on historical form and materials, with added fantasy elements. I made several preliminary designs before pulling them all into one final design I was happy with. I produced all aspects of the costume seen here apart from sword props. The chest armour was constructed in leather and riveted together, featuring leather carving on the front left panel and the back centre panel. I re-used a lot of leather in this project - the red came from an old sofa cover, the brown edging from scraps, and a lot of riveted strips from belts. The trousers have a base of wool, overlaid with stitched and riveted leather strips. I finished the entire costume off with aging and weathering techniques to really give you the feeling that Geralt has just come from battle. Photography by Margo R Photography, wig styling and makeup by Alexei Arlett, chain mail by Rosie Kean, design by myself, modelled by Maya Lenton

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Runaway Prince

This tailcoat and top hat were based off an item of furniture -a canopy bed- at Saltram House in Plymouth. The character is the Runaway Prince: forced to pretend he was a princess, he ran away to join the circus at the first opportunity he could get and became a horseback stuntman! This costume is made from both recycled and bought materials - the glazed chintz, with additional gold free machine embroidery that I added on top, was from a pair of curtains. The floral cotton both in the lining and on the back tails was originally a duvet cover. The blue satin was bought, then manipulated into the pleated and ruffled lapels and hat band, directly inspired by the stimulus object. Photography by BA Commercial Photography, design by myself, modelled by Alexei Arlett

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The Producer

This costume was made for a 50s interpretation of Romeo and Juliet by Plymouth Marjon that was interrupted by Covid-19. The character was a reimagining of Prince Escalus. The waistcoat features faux pockets in a front of waffle cotton, a back and lining in duchess satin and matching buttons, shawl collar and bow tie in polka dot satin. The trousers are constructed from wool flannel, with a red satin pocket edging. Photography by BA Commercial Photography, design and fabric choice by Jacqueline Slade, modelled by Alexei Arlett

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Space Explorer

The brief for this costume was very interesting: it had to incorporate themes of sci-fi, romanticism, and feature a pattern from the 1660s. This costume was made in collaboration with a fellow student, who is also the model. The materials available to us were scraps, cotton and calico: we patchworked machine-embroidered cotton into the bodice, with Lurex piping around each panel. We quilted cotton sleeves, upon which we sewed patches that I had made using free-machine embroidery. The skirt features inverted calico cubes, which we painted into to accentuate, made using patterns from Tomoko Nakamichi's Pattern Magic books. Photography and makeup by myself, designed by Isabelle Mercier and myself, modelled by Isabelle Mercier

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The Narrator

This character was created as an addition to the poem 'Little Suck-A-Thumb' from the Shock-Headed Peter collection, with the given theme of 'Steampunk Opera'. I enjoyed imagining what a narrator of the grisly poem might look like. I used upcycled and found items from charity shops to make this costume, such as a two-piece suit that I transformed into a long coat, adding godets from a duvet cover and a lining from previously gifted fabric. The top hat features added decoration on a bought base, including feathers, ribbon, cogs, springs and lace. Photography by PCA, designed by myself, modelled by Emily Simpson

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