News
Wednesday 19 March 2008
A right royal result
The future of fashion looks bright, with Nottingham Trent University celebrating yet another success on the UK competition circuit. Tim Davies and Kathryn Pow, both final year fashion students, have scooped first prizes in the menswear and womenswear categories of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts (RSA) Design Directions Awards 2008. With almost half of all the finalists in this year’s competition coming from Nottingham Trent University, this double win forms the latest in a season of fashion competition firsts for the internationally renowned School of Art and Design.
Working to a complex brief, both of the young designers were required to produce designs for collections around the theme of 'fashion with a conscience'. Designing high-end ranges for the Spring/Summer 2009 season, the collections worked to align the chic and glamorous world of fashion, with counter-culture themes such as environmentalism, ethical development and corporate social responsibility.
Known for its focus on high levels of research and detail, the RSA Design Direction Awards present a real challenge for any aspiring fashion designer, and to win one stands the recipient in good stead for their future careers.
“I spent weeks investigating all of the themes which would make up my research for this project. I then took my time to produce design boards that reflected all of my ideas and went into real detail for the judges to understand the thoughts behind them,” said Tim.
Kathryn added: “It was a lot of fun working on this competition, and I don't think it’s really sunk in yet that both of us have managed to win first place!”
Tim and Kathryn are both now looking forward to six month work placements with the John Lewis Partnership’s menswear and womenswear departments in London, each worth £5,200. Both students will be working alongside designers to create ranges for buying and reviews, following the design process through from initial research to the finished product in-store. Tim and Kathryn also walked away with individual cash prizes of £1,500 each.
Gilly Staples, senior lecturer and fashion course leader from the university’s School of Art and Design, said: “We were really pleased when so many of our students made it to the finals, but to have won first prize in both categories is incredible!”
ENDS
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