UCLan brings its Graduate Fashion Week catwalk show back to Preston
The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has brought the glitz and glamour of London’s Graduate Fashion Week back to Preston for its annual Fashion Show.
The prestigious event attracted regional business leaders and dignitaries alongside fashionistas and members of the public. The event showcased 18 student collections fresh from the catwalk at Graduate Fashion Week in London which celebrates the up and coming stars of the fashion industry.
This year, Alice Potter, Amelia Robertson, Helen Hyde, Samera Akhtar and Rebekah Jonestone were all nominated for the Graduate Fashion Week gala shows with Alice having her collection photographed by The Times newspaper, Disorder magazine and featured in a new Toni & Guy campaign. Fashion promotion student Caroline Bowden was awarded the Bonmarché Fashion for All Award for her ‘GUESS Peachy’ campaign to create a range of jeans to better fit curvy women, while fashion and brand promotion with photography student Chie-Ling Angie Shek won the Graduate Fashion Week New Fashion Media Award for her interactive app ‘Checkpoint’.
"Tonight’s show represents a high profile snapshot of the University’s talent and strength within the fashion arena and embodies all the hallmarks of professionalism you would expect from one of our flagship courses."
Other highlights included fashion design student Amy Morris making the final four shortlist for the Little Black Dress ‘Never Play It Safe’ competition, which asked entrants to design a red carpet style dress for TV personality Alesha Dixon, while Megan Callery was highlighted as one of the ‘Stars of Graduate Fashion Week’ by womenswear magazine WWB.
Fashion design student Ameila Robertson commented: “Seeing what you’ve created shown on the catwalk is the best thing about the whole course. It shows four years of hard work and dedication coming together and I think when you sit back and look at your collection you think oh my goodness, I did that.”
Opening the event at Venue 53 in the city centre campus, UCLan Vice-Chancellor Professor Mike Thomas said: “Tonight’s show represents a high profile snapshot of the University’s talent and strength within the fashion arena and embodies all the hallmarks of professionalism you would expect from one of our flagship courses.
“Over the years students from our fashion design programme and related courses have achieved great success and industry recognition during this showcase season and this year was no exception.”
"We are incredibly proud of all of our students and the professionalism in which they approach their work."
Graduate Fashion Week is an annual celebration of the up and coming stars of the fashion industry, showcasing work from more than 800 students from 42 universities - including international universities from China, Russia, Milan, Paris, The Netherlands and the Far East.
Fashion design course leader Chris Molloy added: “We are incredibly proud of all of our students and the professionalism in which they approach their work. A key selling point of the course is the vast amount of opportunities to take placements with top brands such as Iris Van Herpen, Mary Krantranzou, Alexander McQueen, Top Shop, Matalan and River Island, as well as offering trips to other fashion hotspots around the world including New York, Paris, Berlin and Hong Kong and China.
“But even in the classroom students learn with live briefs, guest lectures and through commercial feedback on their work and for this we are particularly grateful for the continued support of our alumni, many of whom now hold extremely important jobs within the creative industries, helping out students reach their potential and securing employment after graduation.”
View images from the UCLan Fashion Show on UCLan's Flickr gallery.