The current live competitions are exclusively available to universities that are part of the Graduate Fashion Foundation. This platform provides a unique opportunity for talented students from member institutions to showcase their skills and creativity in the fashion industry. For more details on the competitions, including how to participate, be sure to continue exploring the provided information.
Next Design & Trend Live Competition
We are looking to you to explore, forecast, and design into upcoming trends for Autumn/Winter 2025.
The aim is to help connect you with industry through a live brief. The project should help bridge the gap between university and industry.
The winner will receive:
£500 cash prize
A 4-week placement
An interview for our graduate trainee program, paid for 12 months
About Us:
Next is the biggest fashion and lifestyle retailer in the UK and Europe’s largest online clothing retailer. This year we are on track to make just under £1bn profit.
There are 500 Next stores, representing 8.3 million square feet of retail space.
We have 8 million customers on the website, selling in 72 countries and selecting from the 280 million products sold by us each year.
Our aim is to become the biggest fashion aggregator in the world.
Our brand is highly trusted. Everything we do represents genuine value for money and is designed to last through elevated quality.
What resonates the most with our audience is newness and trend.
We have an enormous range of customers, so choice is key.
Sustainability:
Our purpose is to design, produce, and sell products that are sourced responsibly, manufactured in a way that limits pollution and waste, and achieve a longer useful life.
We have a clear Responsible Sourcing Strategy to source 100% of main raw materials through known, responsible, or certified routes by 2025.
Due to the global nature and complexity of retail supply chains, collaboration is key to developing responsible sourcing approaches. We are members of several leading initiatives, including:
For more detail, check out our 2024 corporate responsibility report here.
If you are motivated to make a difference, Next is a place where you have a meaningful chance to do so.
We would like you to include your thoughts on how your range can have sustainable considerations.
The Challenge:
We challenge you to design an Autumn/Winter 2025 capsule collection for Next aimed at a younger customer.
Imagine this sold as a sub-brand at the front of our flagship store.
Your range has to look on trend, new, and exciting to a customer aged 18–25.
Choose to focus on womenswear, menswear, a mixture of both, or unisex.
We are looking for you to create a professional, contemporary digital design portfolio that communicates a range. This will show examples of trend prediction, your design handwriting through design development, attention to detail, and your reference points to get you to the final looks.
The project should be saved as an A3-sized PDF, landscape.
Who is It Open to?
Open to all second and final year (level 5 and 6) BA Fashion or Knitwear students from Graduate Fashion Week Member Universities in the UK. If in doubt, please ask your tutor.
Work Submission, Timings, and Links:
All digital entries must be received. View the below form by 18.00 on Friday, 24th January 2025. Tutors can submit a maximum of 10 entries to the competition only.
All digital entries must be submitted as one PDF no larger than 10 MB.
We request work is completed in A3 Landscape.
Please ensure you include the entrants full name, university, course, and personal contact details.
Submissions can only be made by a university tutor and not by the student directly. Late entrants will not be included in the selection process.
Students are encouraged to document their print design journey with videos, reels, and on social media channels and TikTok with #NextXGFW
You Will Need to Submit:
Market Knowledge (minimum 1 board):
Research the existing fashion market relevant to your customer.
Take into consideration where Next is now—what opportunities should we be exploring?
Think about who our customers are and how far they can push.
What aspirational brands can you learn from?
What macrotrends are at play?
Reference all of this knowledge in your design development.
Research & Concept (minimum 2 boards):
Create individual research and development boards that provide an insight into your journey on this brief from start to finish.
Tell us where you researched.
We want an insight into your world—who is influencing your ideas and why.
Include social media, brands, celebrities, cultural events, trend reports, etc.
This will help show how you have applied this to the eventual finalisation of your creative outcomes.
Consider:
Theme, why is this relevant to the trend and market?
What will be the must-have key items for AW25? Why? What will be influencing this?
Look at inspirational brands from anywhere in the world.
Create a new and highly compelling colour palette, relevant to your theme.
Which fabrics or yarns would you use to make your designs highly desirable?
Are there trims or branding you can include to really enhance your project?
How will your designs be styled or outfitted?
Sustainability (minimum 1 board):
Really important to us and starts at the product development stage. We are always looking for new ways to be sustainable.
Include evidence of thoughts around applying sustainable processes to your range.
Are there new initiatives that Next has not already considered?
Range Line Up (1 - 2 boards):
Drawing relevance from all of your research, create a coloured line-up of 3–6 outfits.
Show how you have applied your thoughts and vision to a range.
Spec Drawing (1 board):
Select one item from your range to be translated into a detailed technical specification drawing identifying fabrics, trims, branding, details, stitching, and fit.
Graduate Fashion Foundation X Ellesse Tailors Project '25
Background:
Our Founder:
In 1959, our founder, Leonardo Servadio, sought to change the sportswear industry. As a fashionable tailor, his vision was to fuse the functionality of sportswear with the aesthetic and flair of Italian fashion. This would initially be developed into impeccably cut ski trousers, but soon explore all ventures of sport and apparel.
In elevating sportswear beyond performance, Leonardo set the template for athleisure and sportswear as we know it today. In wrapping it in aspiration, he unlocked the freedom of effortless clothing and better living. In adhering strictly to meticulous codes of tailoring and fearlessly innovating, he made great leaps for sports designers, wearers, and players all over the world.
“Joining functionality with real finesse is high fashion. That’s what we’re doing." Leonardo Servadio, 1980
Our History in Tennis:
Launching into the tennis world in 1974, Ellesse truly made its mark on courtside fashion through pioneering the use of quality, innovative materials and introducing tailored fits and style. This was brought to life by tennis legends such as Chris Evert and Boris Becker with memorable Wimbledon wins in the 80’s. Today we continue to sponsor tennis players, like Alfie Hewitt and Francesco Passaro.
The Challenge:
After exploring Ellesse's rich legacy, values, and Italian heritage, we want you to design a six-piece collection that pushes the boundaries of tennis apparel and accessories whilst maintaining a contemporary aesthetic for both on- and off-court moments.
Designs must follow the Ellesse product codes featured in the supporting briefing document and include at least one of our apparel icons reimagined.
Briefing Document Download Here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1by8JR1BTj0bkWmIYnMX2CvxFzZhtgRy4/view?usp=sharing
The Prize:
Three student collections will be chosen with a tiered allocation of prizes.
First Place Prize: A paid work placement with an Ellesse regional design partner, mentorship, and seeing one of your designs professionally manufactured and showcased on the catwalk at the Graduate Fashion Week Gala show.
Second Place Prize: Mentorship from the Ellesse Team and seeing one of your designs professionally manufactured and showcased on the catwalk at the Graduate Fashion Week Gala show.
Third Place Prize: See one of your designs professionally manufactured and showcased on the catwalk at the Graduate Fashion Week Gala show.
Plus, all three winners will have their entry showcased at GFW25 within the exhibition and to feature with a media platform feature.
Work Submission:
You will need to submit:
1x illustrated line-up of the collection on models
1 x board of the 6-piece capsule collection range plan as tech flats
3 x boards to showcase your research, thought process, ideas, and concept, including any prints or fabric application.
1 x 500-word submission explaining your final proposed designs.
Who is It Open to?
Open to all final-year BA Fashion students from Graduate Fashion Week Member Universities in the UK and internationally. If in doubt, please ask your tutor.
Tutors, there are unlimited entries per university; please enter all relevant collections.
Timings and Submission:
Entries must be received by midnight on Friday, 31st January 2025.
All digital entries must be submitted as one PDF no larger than 10 MB.
Please ensure you include the entrants full name, university, course, and personal contact details.
Submissions can only be made by a university tutor and not by the student directly. Late entrants will not be included in the selection process.
Students are encouraged to document their print design journey with videos, reels, and on social media channels and TikTok with #EllesseXGFW