The first Gala show of the evening was to feature all the student designers shortlisted for the various prestigious awards. Nominated for The Stewart Peters Visionary Knitwear Award, Genevieve was one of the three designers shortlisted along with students Wonjee Chung from Nottingham and Trent University and Charlotte Walters from The University of Salford. Genevieves colourful and crayon-like designs, incorporating both cut outs and fur trims, added a playful element to a grown up silhouette.

So, yesterday I took two of our designers, Bram Bekker and Laura Kirchner, aside for a quicky. No, not the quicky you are all thinking about. Just a brief interview with them, asking them for a slightly more in-depth statement about their collections and of course how they felt after the whole shabang.

Congratulations to Lyudmila Lane, Jacqueline Loekito and Lauren Lynn who are nominated for awards today at Graduate Fashion Week. Lyudmila Lane has made it to the final ten competitors for the Gold award, and will be showing in the second gala show this evening. Jacqueline Loekito has also been selected as a finalist for her print in the textile award. Finally Lauren Lynn has also been selected as a finalist for the knitwear award, for her amazing knitted menswear.

The Northumbria show on Sunday 5 June turned out to be a resounding success, with 22 students showcasing their work on the catwalk.

The carefully selected soundtrack and accompanying video backdrop gave the show a really exciting atmosphere; every collection had its own handwriting and style. This truly is what Northumbria does best: creating innovative and experimental fashion which reflects every student’s personality and allows for diversity.

student Katie Nippard has been selected as one of the final six students to compete in the viewer’s choice award at graduate fashion week.  The competition is in collaboration with ITV’s ‘This Morning” and George. The winning designer gets to design a garment with George that will be sold online and gains work experience at the TV programme. The brief was to design an outfit that ‘Pushed the boundaries, whilst being wearable and desirable to the This Morning audience’.

Today the Amsterdam Fashion Institute wowed the public with 5 creative collections. The differing sounds, textures and shapes allowed everyone to to feel triggered by their inspiration. From bold blues and yellows, the style developed into the combination of an American football player and your typical sailor.
No idea seemed too wild for these 5 graduates, they took their inspiration and ideas to a whole new level. And reached an element of design that exceeded some of our wildest dreams.

So, here it is. The moment every fashion student has been anticipating and hoping for, for the whole of their degree course. Three years of hard work crammed with creativity, culminated into one 45 minute catwalk show. For the 24 students selected to show their designs on the runway, the mood was one of nervous excitement as the audience filled Theatre A and awaited to be wowed. They were certainly not disappointed.

Yesterday evening it was UCA Rochester’s time to shine on the Runway. At 8pm the audience took their seats. Meanwhile behind a thin veil, there was a seamstress and pattern cutter at work. Music played, softly muffling the sound of a sewing machine. This was to set the scene, making the audience comprehend that this University has fantastic technical skills. Suddenly a song started to play, and the silhouette of a model appeared behind the machinist… and the show had begun.

To be nominated for an award at Graduate Fashion Week is a huge achievement, but to be nominated for two is the sure sign of a huge talent. I caught up with Zahiah Alawneh from Manchester School of Art, who has achieved

This is the day that I have been waiting for for a long time.
Ever since I heard I was asked to come to London to help out during GFW; I have been counting down the days..
But then, I even got told that I was one of the winners from the bloggers competition. So, here I am in the big city; London, little old me, writing about some of the best designers from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute whilst they are prepping themselves for their big show tomorrow.