Stylish students impress at annual fashion show

SULTRY silks, textured knits and wild patterns all featured at the Manchester School of Art fashion show.

Students showcased a range of techniques, including complicated knits and stunning prints, to create a series of dazzling outfits. Inspiration came from themes including androgyny, childhood nostalgia, Northern seaside towns and Sikh warrior turbans.

The show was one of 175 publically-accessible events taking part this year, to mark the 175th anniversary of the School.

Fashion alumni of Manchester School of Art include Sarah Burton (Alexander McQueen), Agi Mdumulla (Agi and Sam) and Aitor Throup (Nike, Aitor Throup Studio, Kasabian’s artistic director).

See the show

The show was the first to be held in the new Manchester School of Art building, which will have its official opening in October this year, 175 years to the month since the first classes were held at the school.

A gallery of images from the event can be viewed on the MMU Facebook page.

18 students will be showcasing their work at Graduate Fashion Week, next week, in front of an audience of the most stylish journalists, talent scouts and industry insiders in the country. The School of Art show will take place on Tuesday, at 5pm.

The students whose work will be sent down the catwalk on Tuesday are: Olivia Peszynski, Rebecca Howarth, Adam Jones, Mark Glasgow, Steph Wood, Lisa McConniffe, Ceinor Sadler, Victoria Salmon, Lyndsey Anderson, Holly Waring, Nina Burton. Naomi Nabueze, Ria Leape, Emily Shaw, Melissa Lawrence, Robert Mills, Charlie Horncastle and Lucy Cowan.

Past successes

The school will be hoping to reproduce past successes at Graduate Fashion Week, which is widely held to be one of the most important events in the fashion calendar.

In 2010, MMU graduate Rebecca Thompson beat more than 1,000 graduates from 35 universities to win the top prize at Graduate Fashion Week, the £20,000 River Island Gold Award, judged by a team including fashion designer Alberta Ferretti.

Last year, Jousianne Propp won the Stuart Peters Visionary Knitwear Award and the Karen Millen Portfolio Award, and Roz Lamkin was selected as a finalist for the Zandra Rhodes Catwalk Textiles Award.

The Manchester School of Art show will take place at 5pm on Tuesday, 4 June, at Earl’s Court, London.

A first for Hollings

This will also be the first year that Hollings Faculty will be represented at Graduate Fashion Week.

The Faculty will host a stand at the GFW exhibition, which runs alongside the catwalk shows from 2 to 5 June.

Alison Welsh, head of Clothing Design Technology at Hollings, said: “The lucky students selected to showcase their work on the Hollings stand at Graduate Fashion Week will gain a valuable insight into their portfolios and will possibly be offered employment.

“The students working at the event will also have the opportunity to meet key influential members of the trade on the stand, and submit their work for prestigious awards.”