Graduate Fashion Week 2011

Graduate Fashion Week took place last week (as if you didn’t know) a pivotal date indeed in the British Fashion Industry’s calendar. Taking place in London’s Earl’s Court, GFW has all the excitement of its grown up elder sister; London Fashion Week. Discovering new, up and coming talent –it’s our creative future bundled up and presented in one enormous room.

This year sponsored by George, who is dedicated to supporting young graduates (they opened 65 graduate job positions within the brand), GFW gave birth to some very talented fashion babies. Marissa Owen from the University of Central Lancashire took the Womenswear Award with a collection that playfully mixed prints and colour.that had an ‘unbelievable catwalk presence’. For the fairer sex, Felix Chabluk Smith from Edinburgh College of Art won the Menswear Award. A tailored collection re-working the classic and historic menswear traditions; telling them again in a very wearable way. Felix says of menswear designing: “Some people find that (the rules) restrictive but the rules give menswear designers a real power, just by altering the fit of a pair of trousers or putting a certain colour on a guy can say so much.”

At the final gala show, for his refined and wearable knitwear Rory Longdon from Nottingham Trent University took the George Gold Award. For me, away from the glitz of the gala the bright young things of De Montfort University and their individualism will be ones to watch and those from The University of Bristol, with they’re grasp on sculptural clothing garment will be (cat)walking not far behind them.

- Kathryn Duncan