Leading industry names feature at Winchester School of Art’s Festival of Fashion and Textiles

Amanda Bragg-Mollison, Programme Leader in Fashion Marketing Management and event organiser, said: "The festival was a big success with many of the events selling out. It demonstrated Winchester School of Art's close links to industry, giving current students the chance to showcase their work and providing a unique opportunity for prospective students to learn from students, professionals and subject academics."

 Visitors enjoyed talks and exhibitions of students' work from across the School's degree programmes, while pre-degree students gained practical experience at a range of creative workshops. Innovative fashion designer Jane Bowler, fashion illustrator Hollymae Gooch and textile designer Sharon Kearley were among the workshop leaders. There were also fashion styling workshops with stylist/make-up designer Lauren Stevenson and fashion photographer Chris Overend.

One of the festival's highlights was the gala day, organised in association with Business Solent, which included a fascinating ‘in conversation' event with special guest speaker Roger Saul, founder of ubiquitous luxury designer brand Mulberry.

The gala day also featured a professionally produced catwalk show, one of three professional shows held during the festival to showcase the very best work of graduating students from Winchester and from the University's international partners. Roger praised the quality of the designs on show, commenting: "The standard of creativity was quite amazing. This is one of the best student fashion shows that I have seen."

Amanda added: "The feedback we received about the festival was very positive. I am happy that the event showcased our strong links to industry, and the high standards of graduate work from the School of Art. It's a great compliment to have such fantastic feedback from the likes of Roger Saul, who is so highly respected in the industry." The catwalk shows were sponsored by Guillaume Hair and cosmetics company Bobbi Brown.

 

The gala fashion show was followed by an awards ceremony recognising the achievements of graduating Winchester students. Roger presented the awards to Lucy Jones for best use of textiles, Alex Pengelly for outstanding knitwear and Arati Subba for innovative design. Awards were also presented to Andela Lukanovic and Ana Jelinic, students from a partner university in Slovenia, for best use of colour and most visionary international collection.