Graduate Fashion Week
As a forum to showcase the very best graduate fashion design talent in the UK, Graduate Fashion Week, which runs until June 10 at Earls Court 2 Exhibition Centre, plays host to over 50 of the top fashion and textile universities from the UK and overseas. Now in its 19th year, the event has launched the careers of renowned British designers such as Stella McCartney, Julian MacDonald, Antonio Baradi, Christopher Bailey, Stuart Vevers and Owen Gaster. But it also seeks to inspire generations more. This year organisers will be staging once more an Education Day on Thursday 10 June, aimed at 14-18 year old students at Schools and Further Education Colleges. The day will provide visitors with a unique opportunity to see the types of courses available from the exhibiting universities – and hopes to build on last year’s success when over 140 schools from all over the country and 3500 school students attended.
Fashion Writer and Broadcaster Caryn Franklin is one of the original brains behind Graduate Fashion Week. This year she will be once again host two Career Clinics at 11.45pm and 2.15 pm in Theatre B which will each last approximately one hour.
“The GFW Education Day is about preparing students with the facts and the knowledge they will need to make informed choices about their careers.” she says. “This is an event that manages everything – with spectacle and excitement underpinned by integrity and authenticity.”
The day also provides a unique opportunity for school students to see one of three fabulous Gala Shows which will have been staged the night before for GFW’s glittering awards ceremony for press and industry. Each show lasts approximately one hour and will feature the very best collections from each university who has staged a show throughout the week. It will also include the Gala Award Winners, including, of course, the River Island Gold Award Winner.
River Island is the title sponsor of Graduate Fashion Week for the sixth consecutive year and has employed around 30 talented designers as a result of their involvement with the event. Richard Bradbury is River Island CEO.
“With an estimated 3000 fashion students graduating every year it’s tougher than ever for individuals to break their way into the industry,” he says. “Design has always been an integral part of River Island which is why it is so important to support the organizations and universities involved in growing and developing innovative students. Our sponsorship allows us to give students a spring board to start their careers, whilst allowing us the opportunity to source talent for all areas of our own business.”
Last year UCA Rochester Fashion Design Student Myrto Stamou won the Gold Award. Myrto, 24, from Arta in North-west Greece, was presented with a prize of £20,000 and saw her winning womenswear collection displayed in the shop window of River Island's flagship store in London's Oxford Street. She has since adapted two designs from her Gold Award collection exclusively for River Island. Both dresses will be sold nationwide from this month for £49.99 and will feature UCA on the swing ticket.
“Starting my professional career with such a coveted collaboration is the best thing that could happen to me,” she says. “Before this collaboration, I had only seen small, designer studios but at River Island I got to see the inner-workings of a major brand and discuss my ideas with experienced professionals who design for the mass market every day.”
"Winning Graduate Fashion Week has given me the opportunity to make some great contacts, meet very interesting people and take invaluable advice from important professionals in the fashion industry, but most of all, it has given me the confidence to start building my own brand which is my biggest dream. I am currently back in Athens where I am setting up my own label."
For details of times and travel and how to book tickets, seewww.gfw.org.uk»Search site for listings and articles
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