UCLan students unveil their design collections
The University of Central Lancashire’s (UCLan) cutting-edge fashion show is finally returning to the catwalk after three years due to the pandemic.
The popular UCLan Fashion Showcase returned to the University’s Preston Campus this week. It featured 11 unique collections created by final year fashion design students and modelled by Manchester based Boss models.
Singer, songwriter, fashionista and host of Channel 4’s hit body positivity show Naked Beach, Jsky, opened this year’s show with a live performance.
Highlights of this year’s UCLan show include Nicole Hind’s re-purposed denim with 70s punk influenced designs that take inspiration from her dad who was in a punk band, Abbie Stephenson’s romantic womenswear collection inspired by her Italian grandmother who moved to the UK in the 1950s and Sameera Mohmed’s richly textured ‘Love is Blind’ range, which pays tribute to her mother’s strength in battling a degenerative eye condition, featuring re-cycled spectacle lenses that she has re-purposed into exaggerated ‘sequins’.
"I am proud of the way my original designs have had very little changes throughout the process and we were always able to find a way to create the look I wanted."
— Fashion design student Kirsten Torkoniak
Another stand-out student, Kirsten Torkoniak, embraces sustainable practices such as repurposing nautical sails and using sustainable dead-stock materials.
She said: “I am proud of the way my original designs have had very little changes throughout the process and we were always able to find a way to create the look I wanted. The final year had so many challenges and involved a lot of late nights and hard work but I had the best time seeing my designs come to life.”
For the first time the Fashion Showcase also featured work from first and second year fashion design students, along with a short film reflecting on the breadth and depth of skills across the fashion courses at UCLan, highlighting diverse projects created by fashion promotion with marketing, fashion design and textile students.
"We are absolutely delighted to bring this prestigious event back to Preston as nothing beats seeing the collections on a catwalk. "
— Senior Fashion Lecturer Chris Molloy
Senior Fashion Lecturer Chris Molloy said: “We are absolutely delighted to bring this prestigious event back to Preston as nothing beats seeing the collections on a catwalk.
“We have really missed this event in our calendar and the students have worked incredibly hard to produce these professional, highly personal collections ready to showcase to the public.”
