Behind the Runway: Converging Progressive Conversation and Style
By Gretel Goodgame
DUCFS is the largest student-led and most profitable charity fundraising event in Europe, having raised over one million pounds since 2017. Durham University is sometimes characterised as lacking in diversity and creative expression but DUCFS help break these stereotypes. The year-long campaign to support Marie Curie disrupts that narrative and emboldens creative culture entirely.
The show is a multifaceted endeavor, with extensive work taking place behind the scenes. From social media outreach to charity coordination and logistics, teams collaborate continuously to deliver something spectacular over show week in February.
I had the privilege of speaking with Ruby Crocker and Phoenix Wilson, the two Heads of Fashion for 2026. Their role is paramount, acting as a gateway through which fashion becomes a tool for cultural intervention through creative endeavors.
What emerged most clearly from both conversations was a shared commitment to spotlighting designers whose work prioritises concept and symbolism as much as the fabrics used. Whilst the clothes need to be visually aesthetic, there is a clear awareness of the weight carried by narratives communicated through design, and the potential to ‘rewire reality’.
I spoke to Phoenix about the power of her role in shaping progressive conversations through fashion and, at a more grounded level within student culture, progressive personal style. We both agreed that the two work in tandem.
Bold decisions in fashion rarely remain confined to the material. Tied closely to identity, certain styles, patterns, and fabrics feel intrinsic to our individuality, while others shape our view of the world around us. Coinciding with the 2026 theme ‘reality rewired’, it is fashion's ability to intercept and challenge the narratives we passively abide by that feels most significant. At Durham, these narratives can often feel blinkered, making the replacement of traditional academia with creativity, facilitated by DUCFS, particularly important.
Phoenix hopes that “Each walk immerses the audience into different realities and relationships with technology from past to present. Some will hopefully warn the audience on how their consumption can shape the world, but there is also a celebration of a reality where technology is present, but limited.” Whilst this is one possible reading, the responsibility that Ruby and Phoniex hold, ensuring they have around 200 different looks from around 90 emerging designers, is exactly what makes their role so vital in broadening and diversifying the conversation.
Ruby explained that “there is a particular narrative behind each walk, and how the looks are not isolated, but part of a carefully curated story. Each walk is designed to communicate a specific theme where the narrative and the outfits are intertwined - I hope everyone picks up on this.”
As the walks have been revealed over the past few months, it's clear the audience is set to encounter a series of thought-provoking explorations of technology and reality, both past and present. Much of this can be attributed to Ruby and Phoenix, alongside the Fashion Directors who have each curated their own walks. They have allowed each theme, from ‘Input Overload’ to ‘Delayed Future’, to retain its own nuance whilst contributing to a cohesive, progressive dialogue. This is all whilst authentically championing the designer's intentions.
Despite the variety within the different walks, when they all come together, there is an underlying conceptual consistency. Walk Two’s hyper-saturated syntheticism, for instance, feeds into the same directive vision as Walk Three. If ‘Input Overload’ speaks about the excess and chaos of contemporary consumption, then ‘delayed future’ is a continuation of the same conversation, rather than a departure. Reflections on past and future, the palpable nostalgia complements the sobering realities of our present, highlighted by earlier walks. The overlap in walk allows multiple realities to coexist within one evolving conversation.
Moving from broader conversations to DUCFs’s influence on individual style, the values at the heart of the show - diversity, experimentation, and representation - already challenge traditional understandings. There is a clear awareness that Durham can become a stereotype. There is a particular culture surrounding individual expression, one not widely associated with liberation or experimentation. The designer's pieces are bespoke and maximalist, opposing such boundaries. The clothes “function more as a creative statement, rather than dictating how people should dress”. It is this ethos of “radical and progressive fashion styling” that DUCFS hopes to translate beyond the runway.
Phoenix warned, “There are some popular brands in Durham that sell ‘a certain look’ that fail to champion any sort of individuality from the wearer. There is a threat of us all becoming clones of each other as a product of algorithm-pushed microtrends on social media. I fear that if we do not start talking about this louder and sooner, we risk losing the identity aspect of fashion”.
The environment that DUCFS creates facilitates a deliberate break from the traditional culture and rigidity often associated with Durham. The fashion executives do not take this responsibility lightly. Their role can feel like a “part-time job” at times, but both Ruby and Phoenix praised the professionalism within the DUCFS culture as a whole.
In the 43rd year of the fashion show, the objective remains the same: to create tangible change. While many unseen contributors are working behind the scenes, the Heads of Fashion carry a decisive responsibility in shaping the direction that change takes. By ‘rewiring reality’ through fabric, form, and narrative, DUCFS reminds us that fashion is never just worn but lived, questioned, and continually reimagined.
Image Credit: Ollie Turan
