Academic gowns and graduation attire for ceremonies has been around since the middle ages. Over the centuries, the gowns have evolved and developed to remain relevant and modern for today’s ceremonies and educational communities.
Below, we’ve outlined some of the innovations and trends that graduation attire has gone through over the year that have helped to revitalise academia and graduation ceremonies. Check them out below!
The Origin of Academic Gowns
Academic dress originated in the medieval ages, rising to prominence in top English universities, Oxford and Cambridge. The gowns had close ties to the typical dress of the clergy. Due to the prominence of Christianity and the teaching of Latin and the bible in schools, clergy attire was the obvious choice for academic connections.
The attire worn by Oxford and Cambridge academics was known as the cappa clausa. This was comprised of a large, sleeveless cloak with a single opening in the front for hands. The cloak was eventually retired in universities in the 16th century, in favour of wearing only the gown, which had an open front and long sleeves, allowing for greater movement.
Gowns were mostly black in colour as a standard while higher officials in the university and those with doctor degrees were permitted to wear scarlet, historically known as a royal and authoritative colour also worn by judges and bishops.
Innovations in Graduation Gown Design
As gowns have been modernised from their religious roots in history, there have been a wider variety of creative designs as universities create their own individual communities for their graduates and academics, fostering a stronger sense of pride.
The transition of gowns from a traditional standard to universities branding their gowns with their own insignia and colours helps to create a more vibrant ceremony that leaves the plain black and impersonal symbolism behind.
In recent years, the students of universities have played a significant part in designing new gowns for their ceremonies. These collaborations help to foster more personal design choices by the students for the students.
NTU Graduation Gown Design
One recent highlight in academic gown innovation came out of NTU (Nottingham Trent University). There, fashion student Georgia Stevenson created a brand new look inspired by the university itself. She focused on pink colours to reflect the university’s brand while cutting the hood in the distinctive shape of NTU’s Arkwright building and including the university’s coat of arms.
Stevenson also focused on finding eco-friendly solutions for the design of the gown, folding and cutting the fabric to reduce waste and creating the gown from recyclable plastics.
Vivienne Westwood Graduation Gown Design
Vivienne Westwood has also provided her fashion expertise to design a fashionable new graduation gown for King’s College London, based around original and vibrant colours that help to differentiate the gown from other colleges under the University of London banner.
Westwood’s design is most notable for its exclusion of a hood and a mortarboard cap, typically traditional elements of graduation attire. This was a decision opposed by some students but it does indicate a growing trend of individual and creative designs.
Modern Graduation Gown Materials
In the past, graduation gowns would have been made out of cotton materials while modern graduation gowns are more typically made out of synthetic fibres such as polyester and acetate.
Polyester and acetate are probably the most popular and common graduation attire materials, especially for single use gowns. These lightweight fibres are good for keeping cool, which is advantageous for summer ceremonies in the sun.
These synthetics are also shrink resistant, mildew resistant and dry quickly. This makes them easy and convenient to dry clean and will ensure that the gown does not get damaged during transport or storage.
Graphene Graduation Gowns
Back in 2019, Manchester University introduced the revolutionary graphene gown, refreshing the traditional gown with a lighter weight that helps graduates to be more comfortable than ever.
Graphene is a flexible option for graduation gowns. In colder weather during winter ceremonies, graphene will help to preserve heat while in hotter weather in summer ceremonies, the graphene will expel heat and keep the graduate cool.
Rubber inseams helped to give Manchester’s gowns more durability while their mortarboards were engineered to convert heat energy. This was used to charge mobile phones during the ceremony, allowing guests to film and photograph their loved ones with greater ease and creating lasting memories.
Eco-Friendly Graduation Gowns
Perhaps one of the most important developments in graduation attire in the modern age is the focus on sustainability, creating more environmentally friendly gowns that benefit the wider society that your university is a part of.
As we mentioned earlier in regards to NTU gowns, there is a higher focus on using recyclable materials to make the gowns out of, reducing waste and conserving natural resources.
Sustainable Gown Materials
One of the most popular gown materials for eco-friendly practices is plastic. Repurposing plastic bottles into fabric helps to massively reduce the amount of plastic waste as very few bottles actually end up getting recycled properly.
Using plastic materials can lead to a reduction in the manufacture of synthetic fibres. Synthetics rely on fossil fuel extraction and upon disposal take a long time to decompose, creating an extensive pollution problem over a long period of time.
Eco-friendly gowns also focus on cutting and folding the fabric used precisely to avoid wasting the material, leading to greater reduction in pollution.
Dry Cleaning Sustainability
Creating a sustainable graduation environment isn’t just about ensuring the manufacturing of the gown is eco-friendly. Dry cleaning sustainability ensures that your gowns receive a complete eco-friendly treatment before and after the ceremony, reducing the cost of pollution.
Sustainable dry cleaning uses liquid carbon dioxide which is recycled and mixed with cleaning solutions, avoiding the use of harmful chemicals that can cause health risks and result in higher levels of pollutants. These harmful chemicals include perchloroethylene (PERC) which can cause dizziness, headaches and confusion if you are exposed.
Graduation Cap Innovations
Aside from the academic gown, the graduation cap is just as important to ceremonies, with a number of different styles being used in ceremonies throughout history, including:
- The mortarboard – the classic graduation cap with the square top
- The tam – made of black velvet with a soft top
- The biretta – a tall, four-peaked cap
One of the biggest pushes for innovations in graduation caps is to create a graduation cap for curly hair and afros that doesn’t rely on modifications and hacks on current caps, creating a more inclusive and diverse fashion for graduation ceremonies.
This innovative project is being headed by Oliver Adkins of Churchill Gowns who is partnering with Jennifer Agwunobi, a student at Loughborough and founder of a business called Hair Goals who will provide a deeper understanding of the target market and the needs of a diverse range of hair types.
Academic gowns and graduation attire are always being updated for modern communities to keep the university experience fresh and rewarding without sacrificing tradition altogether.
New innovations in graduation gown design help to foster a stronger sense of identity in each individual, creating a more positive experience as they close one chapter of their lives. To find out more, you can read our guide on the brand new NTU gowns and hire a gown for your ceremony from our graduation attire store.
