News
Wednesday 17 December 2008
Students have designs on Italian shirt fashion
Fashion design students at Nottingham Trent University are being challenged by premium Italian shirt manufacturer, Milena Spa, to flex their creative wings in the company’s shirt design competition. The students, who are based in the university’s prestigious School of Art and Design, are being asked to produce an innovative and imaginative spring/summer men’s shirt collection for the company’s Delsiena brand.
Milena Spa has briefed the students to develop a inspiring collection, which not only focuses on the finished product, fabric and styling, but also pays close attention to the most important elements of any shirt including collar, front plaquet and cuff. They will also be required to communicate quality, style, direction and branding.
The collections should target three key audiences: the fashion press and independent boutiques; designer stores and department store buyers; and the consumer.
Judges – who will include designers and stylists from Milena Spa, along with an independent member – will be looking for a fully fashioned sample shirt as well as research and understanding of the issues relating to shirt manufacture, visuals, swatches, photographs and personal thoughts to demonstrate the path to innovation.
Winners will be revealed next March, with the overall winner seeing their designs incorporated into the new spring/summer 2010 collection, a £1000 cash prize and a trip to the Italian shirt company’s head offices in Sansepolcro, Tuscany. Second and third place will receive £500 and £250 respectively.
Milena Spa’s marketing director, Mauro Del Siena said: “We’re confident that the students will rise to the challenge and we’re looking forward to including the winning designs in our next collection.
“As a shirt brand, it is our responsibility to deliver inspired, commercially effective collections for our all clients worldwide, so it is essential that we always look forward and with the help of the next generation of designers, we will continue to build success.”
Gilly Staples, Nottingham Trent University BA (Hons) Fashion Design course leader, said: “We are really excited about this brief and the opportunity to become involved in with Milena Spa. We are confident that this will challenge the students to use all the skills and techniques learned during the course, ranging from ideas generation and fabric design through to the finished article.”
ENDS
For further information contact:
Ellie Mayers at EPM Communications on telephone: 07771 682 060 or email ellie@epmcommunications.co.uk
Dave Rogers, Senior Press Officer, Nottingham Trent University, on Tel: 0115 848 8782, or email dave.rogers@ntu.ac.uk
Notes for editors:
Milena Spa
With over half a century of experience manufacturing premium quality Italian, hand finished mens shirts, Milena Spa, based in Sansepolcro, Tuscany, is recognised internationally as one of the leading shirt suppliers.
Still run by the Del Siena family, the company has acquired the prestigious Italian shirt company, Carrel, making Milena the second largest shirt company manufacturing in Europe, producing over 1.7 million shirts annually across its three brand names, Delsiena, Carrel and B>More and its made to measure bespoke service.
Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University is one of the largest universities in the country, with a thriving student population of over 25,000.Founded in 1843, the School of Art & Design is one of the most established in the UK. As a flourishing, multicultural community of more than 2,500 students, the department has gained a world-renowned reputation for creativity, innovation and design excellence.
BA (Hons) Fashion Design is a dynamic course based on project and studio work, with exceptional links to the fashion industry. It has an established international reputation for shaping creative talent capable of producing the kind of innovative, directional designs demanded in today’s fast-paced fashion work.
