35 Years Of Shaping British Fashion
Founded in 1991 by Jeff Banks CBE, Vanessa Denza MBE, and John Walford, Graduate Fashion Foundation was established with a singular mission: to unify UK and international universities and create a pipeline for the creative industries to find the best emerging talent. Over 35 years, that mission has remained constant while its reach has grown significantly. To date, the Foundation has supported over 150,000 newly graduated and undergraduate students, providing them with the visibility, connections, and industry access needed to turn creative education into sustainable careers.
The Foundation has played a significant role in launching the careers of some of the most celebrated names in British fashion, including Christopher Bailey MBE, winner of the very first Gold Award and now a Lifetime Patron of the charity, alongside Stella McCartney, Hussein Chalayan, Ashish Gupta, Clare Waight Keller, Louise Trotter, Giles Deacon, Matthew Williamson, and Julien MacDonald.
Year round, the Foundation delivers mentorship programmes, accelerators, live industry briefs, brand partner competitions, showrooms, seminars, and masterclasses, working with leading brands and institutions across the UK. Discover our impact, heritage and archive through this exhibition, from introducing new disciplines to pivoting to digital during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Foundation remains as committed to leading the fashion industry in new ideas, fresh energy and world class talent, as it was in 1991.
“The event started with just ten Fashion and two Fashion Marketing programmes, including Northumbria, and has grown considerably to become the world’s biggest showcase of BA Fashion talent, attracting global attention and participation from industry, including Ralph Lauren, Gap Inc. and LVMH.”
1991
In 1991, the three founders created Graduate Fashion Foundation to act as an unrivaled platform for promoting new fashion talent and to unify universities with the creative industries. Creating opportunities for regional universities to showcase their design courses, including Louise Trotter, then student at Northumbria University.
1992
Graduate Fashion Week was always more than an event - the Founders recognised this, and Graduate Fashion Foundation with charity status was born as something with potential to grow, expand its reach and work with industry partners to support new talent.
Christopher Bailey joined the iconic heritage brand Burberry, in 2001, becoming Creative Director in 2004 and eventually becoming Chief Creative Officer and President in May 2014. His departure in 2017, marked a 16 year journey of creative development, digital expansion and establishing the Burberry Foundation. This career begun in 1992, when Christopher, at the time a fresh graduate from the University of Westminster, won multiple awards at Graduate Fashion Week, including student of the year, collection of the year and the inaugural Gold Award.
At the same time, Emma Hill, a talented accessory designer and graduate from Ravensbourne University, showcased her work at Graduate Fashion Week. After this initial showcase, Emma went on to be the acclaimed Creative Director of Mulberry, after stints at Chloé and Marc Jacobs.
1993
In 1993, Graduate Fashion Foundation began to expand its reach, showcasing over 500 students from across design disciplines and universities. The event welcomed BHS as the first headline sponsor, kick starting a long history of industry collaboration.
As part of the Central Saint Martins show at Graduate Fashion Week, Hussein Chalayan, showcased his graduate collection “The Tangent Flows”, which he buried in his friend’s garden for several months before presenting.
Chalayan has twice been named winner of British Designer of the Year Award at the British Fashion Council’s The Fashion Awards, been described as ‘fashion’s greatest storyteller’ by Dazed and will always be iconic for the ‘After Words’ A/W 2000 collection, that saw furniture transform into garments.
1994
From 500 to 1,500, by the time Graduate Fashion Week in 1994 rolled around, the showcasing students had tripled. Creating a space for all talented and creative young people to share their work with the industry had become all the more vital as the support system grew.
Created by Foundation Founder Jeff Banks, The Clothes Show, aired on BBC from 1986 - 1998 broadcast a special edition episode featuring students including Valerie Swindle. With more than 9 million viewers each Sunday, the exposure for young designers work skyrocketed.
From dinners to catwalks, the Foundation welcomed industry stalwarts including Karl Lagerfeld, John Rocha and Anna Sui as judges and guests. With talent on show including now ambassador Julien MacDonald and Antonio Berardi, students at Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins respectively, it’s clear that Graduate Fashion Week is quickly becoming the place to spot new talent.
1995
Beginning at Ravensbourne University and moving to Central Saint Martins, Stella McCartney is one of the most recognisable fashion designers to come out of the British education system.
“So who, one might wonder, is Stella McCartney? She is the 23-year-old daughter of PAUL McCARTNEY and a member of this year’s graduating class at the Central St. Martin’s School of Art in London. According to reports in London newspapers yesterday, Ms. McCartney had eight designs in a show that was part of Graduate Fashion Week. New design school graduates are given a chance to show their work to people in the fashion industry.”
It all started with a graduate collection, shown at Graduate Fashion Week in 1995 and modelled by Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and Yasmin Le Bon.
“I wanted to make clothes that I wanted to wear, and I think that was quite novel at that time,” McCartney told Vogue’s Chioma Nnadi of her graduate show. Even back then, she managed to pull together quite the cast, with Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Yasmin Le Bon all walking the show. “My girlfriends were these incredible supermodels; they all wanted to support a friend, but also British fashion and student fashion,” the designer recalled”
Since 1995, alumni McCartney has had an immeasurable impact on the fashion industry. From Creative Director at Chloé to launching Stella McCartney, McCartney has remained as dedicated to creativity, the ethical treatment of animals and sustainability thought leadership throughout her career.
From pushing responsible and ethical practices forward to winning endless awards from Vogue Designer of the Year, the Woman of Courage Award, the Elle Style Award for Best Designer of the Year and the Green Designer of the Year Award, McCartney is one of Graduate Fashion Weeks earliest alumni and exemplary of how industry guides talent support can create pathways to success.
1996
At Graduate Fashion Foundation, we’re focused on building a community that not only places graduates into roles, but also remains connected to our alumni. In 2026, we’ve welcomed F&F as the principle partner of Graduate Fashion Week - 20 years earlier, in 1996, we welcomed Phil Jones to the event - then a student at University of Derby, Phil went on to work with brands such as Quicksilver, Disney, Universal, River Island, Fullcircle as well as lecturing the MA Fashion Design Students at University for the Creative Arts. Phil now holds the position of Head of Menswear at F&F.
1997
In 1997, one of our founding university members, Northumbria, became the first university outside of London to hold an open event at Graduate Fashion Week. This was made possible after a large press campaign to raise the £10,000 required to do so.
The event moved from the Business Design Centre for the first time, marking the beginning of many moves into iconic and underground venues around the cultural scene of London. This year, the event took place in the Underground Carpark of the Southbank Centre, echoing the progressive and youthful spirit the Foundation still embodies today. The venue welcomed Alexander ‘Lee’ McQueen, Ren Pearce, Andrew Fionda and Julien MacDonald, as judges across awards recognising talent in design, communications and creativity.
1998
As industry engagement bloomed, interest grew, and 1998 saw more than 1000 students flock to Jubilee Gardens, Southbank and Royal Festival Hall for shows, exhibitions and catwalks. Vidal Sassoon was welcomed as the official hairdresser and BHS continued to support as the lead sponsor of the event.
“415 cans of hairspray, 325 hair nets, 10,000 hair grips, 22,036m of fabric, 4,345 reels of cotton, 10,260 buttons were used during the event”
1999
With the dot com bubble expanding rapidly and Google acquiring it’s first round of investment with a plan to ‘“to organise the world’s information, making it universally accessible and useful”, the world of communications and media was changing at a rapid pace. To expand the offering of Graduate Fashion Week, and recognise the vital contribution to fashion of disciplines outside of design, the media award was created. With Alexander ‘Lee’ McQueen judging the Telegraph Award, journalism, media and communications was beginning to have its moment.
Graduate Fashion Week moved venues, to Planit 2000, Shoreditch High St - the first foray into Shoreditch, where it remains today with more than 13 years at the Truman Brewery where you stand today. Filled with warehouses and creatives, a cultural revolution was taking place in the area - unrecognisable to the Shoreditch you experience in 2026. At the same time, across the city, the V&A Fashion in Motion, a live fashion events showcase contemporary collections by both established international names and up-and-coming fashion designers on models, launched showcased Alexander McQueen and Philip Treacy.
The Northumbria show at Graduate Fashion Week 1999, welcomed Thomas Walker, currently Global Design Director at Nike, and Sophie Cranston, Creative Director at Libelula.
2000
As the world watched a once in a lifetime calendar event, the millennium, Y2K was influencing pop culture, fashion, music and the youth. As a collective of creative young voices across the UK, Graduate Fashion Foundation was at the forefront of the rebellious counter cultural movement.
Graduate Fashion Week, remaining at Planit 2000, saw the Central Saint Martins show welcome Alexandre Roux, watched on by John Galliano in the front row. Newly introduced awards, including the American Express Award for Innovation recognised graduate fashion talent cross discipline with industry judges including Wayne Hemmingway.
“Early-2000s fashion featured trends so bad they were almost good: bodycon dresses, low-rise jeans, boho chic, It girls, and It bags.”
2001
2001 marked a key year for alumni - Christopher Bailey, winner of the first ever Gold Award, officially joined Burberry as Design Director, and Nicholas Kirkwood, winner of multiple British Fashion Awards, showcased as part of the London College of Fashion graduating class. We welcomed cultural voices including Boy George, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, and members of Atomic Kitten to the show audiences, and the event saw significant support from the Princes Trust.
“I was looking for something that made sense, and his work stood out. Everything was there for a reason. The very flat, solid construction and the artisan element, the attention to detail, tapped into the way things are going.”
With awards presented by Edith Bowman and Claudia Winkleman and judged by Alexander McQueen, support for talent from industry and cultural voices remained as strong as ever. With tangible opportunities given to graduates, including Catherine Marques, a graduate of Ravensbourne, who secured a Christian Lacroix placement, award winners included graduates from London College of Fashion, Northumbria, Derby, Westminster and Surrey to name a few.
“Reality TV has nothing on Graduate Fashion Week. True, they don’t have to eat rats for breakfast (though they probably would if it would help) but the hundreds of fashion students taking their four-minute turn on the catwalk this week are well aware that the fashion world makes tribal council look like a soft touch. For one or two, this will be the first of ever more lauded and applauded catwalk appearances; for many others, it will be the nearest they ever get to London Fashion Week.”
2002
In 2002, more than 29 member universities showing at Graduate Fashion Week, showcased in a new location - Battersea Park. The new space allowed for two catwalk halls, offering more graduates the chance to be seen.
Yong Hei Fong’s award-winning womenswear collections landed him a spot at Central Saint Martins' MA programme and subsequently led to a design career at Alexander McQueen, moving to set up their own brand and be stocked in Liberty. Francesca Muston, won the headline partner award, the Topshop Accessories Award, now the Chief Forecasting Officer at WGSN.
2003
Co-founder Jeff Banks and the-then T4 presenter June Sarpong presented the closing Gala show, featuring models adorned in pink wigs, in 2003 - awarding the prestigious Designer of the Year Award was won by Yuko Yoshitake, a menswear design student from the University of Westminster,
“Sally Anne Graveling’s kimono sleeve dresses had a professional touch and a strong use of colour, while Brett Shergold’s bacteria prints on clinging mini-dresses were edgy but also commercial.
Philip Normal piled on purposefully clashing layers and printed swear words in an oversize collection reminiscent of the late performance artist Leigh Bowery, and Carri Munden sent out vividly coloured club-kids who looked over-stimulated in sweaters with huge monster eyes.”
2004
More than 42,000 visitors descended upon Battersea Park in June of 2024, all eager to see the work of more than 1,200 students showcasing from universities including Leeds School of Art, London College of Fashion, University of Brighton and Nottingham Trent University. Co-founder Jeff Banks was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Services to Fashion Education.
MA graduates from Central Saint Martins, showcasing at Graduate Fashion Week, were given an exclusive 8 page spread in Vogue - the first time the magazine had ever featured the work of fashion students.
“It is the first time Vogue has showcased the work of students. The magazine’s fashion features editor, Harriet Quick, said the reason for this year’s inclusion is because the designs are clothes women could actually wear, rather than exotic outfits that might look good on camera, but are impossible to keep on.”
One of our member community, Manchester Metropolitan University, took home three awards - the portfolio, the colour and the illustration awards - marking a 25% sweep of the annual awards. Judges included industry members such as Marcus Lupfer, Alexandra Shulman, then-Editor of Vogue magazine, and Stefano Pilati, designer for Yves Saint Laurent.
2005
2005 welcomed River Island as headline sponsor, to Battersea park, with catwalks, exhibition spaces and showcases from universities from across the UK, including University of West England in Bristol, University of East London, Leeds College of Art & Design and Liverpool John Moores University.
Artists and iconic fashion designers came to experience the graduate fashion, with Grayson Perry in attendance at the Central Saint Martins show and Mary Quant presenting the Zandra Rhodes Textiles Award.
More than fifteen awards were given, recognising talent in the use of colour to styling, with judging panels including Hilary Alexander, then Fashion Editor at The Telegraph, Alice Temperley, Designer, Savannah Miller then at Anya Hindmarch, and Jason Broderick, then Buyer, Harrods.
“Graduate Fashion Week came to a dramatic close in London last night. T4’s June Sarpong and her sidekick Steve Jones co-presented the event, but even their one-liners couldn’t diminish the talent on display. It is easy to forget when viewing these shows that the designers are not professionals, that they do not have a team of ateliers, assistants and entourage to fire their imaginations or source the rarest antique tulle; nor do they snip and sew surrounded by limited-edition Diptyque candles… well not yet anyway.”
2006
The 15th anniversary of Graduate Fashion Week, was a celebration of multidisciplinary talent across the fashion education system in the UK - with the Gold Award given to James Lawrence, then graduate of Northumbria, and now Design Director at ASOS.
Amy Powney, former Creative Director at Mother of Pearl, Founder of AKYN, and the lead in the sustainable fashion documentary ‘Fashion Reimagined’, showcased as 2006 Kingston University graduate. Amy is a leading voice in the responsible, ethical and sustainable fashion movement.
2007
In 2007, our now Lifetime Patron, Victoria Beckham was not only a judge and an attendee at the Gala show, but also purchased garments from University of East London show, created by Kelly Shaw, giving an astonishing amount of attention and visibility to the emerging designer. Fellow guests and judges included industry stalwarts such as Jimmy Choo and Albar Elbez, and for the first time, the event extended beyond Battersea Park. Selfridges hosted a pop up shop for eleven students for a full week, selling the garments directly to the public.
More than 1,000 talented students showcased their work to the industry, ready to experience new ideas and fresh energy.
2008
A cornerstone year, as 2008 saw Graduate Fashion Week leave Battersea Park in favour of Earls Court - a venue the event would remain at until 2014.
Pixie Geldof became the official face of Graduate Fashion Week, sitting front row at the Gala accompanied by Nick Grimshaw and Agnes Deyn. The winner of the prestigious River Island Gold Award in 2008, was Jessica Au, a student from Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, judged by Claudia Schiffer, Julian McDonald, Agyness Deyn, Gareth Pugh,
Henry Holland and Harold Tillman.
Graduate Fashion Foundation began to expand its influence over the talent pipeline into fashion beyond the reach of universities, with the first ever educational day for 14-18 year olds. More than 120 schools attended, to learn more about the opportunities that the fashion industry has to offer.
2009
Earls Court welcomed more than 50 universities across five days in early June 2009, attracting interest from industry figures in attendance, including Zandra Rhodes, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, and Giles Deacon.
River Island was the headline partner for the event, providing visibility, funding and collaboration to Graduate Fashion Foundation in light of a changing global financial landscape.
Many graduates took home awards, with the prestigious Media and Design Award won by Charlotte Webb from Middlesex University, presented by supermodel Claudia Schiffer. This wasn’t the only supermodel that participated in Graduate Fashion Week 2009 - Amber Le Bon was also the face of the River Island Graduate Fashion Week collection.
In 2009, Nicola Hitchens, then a graduate of Nottingham Trent University, showcased her collection and portfolio as part of the university stand. Nicola was announced as Managing Director of Graduate Fashion Foundation in 2025, and is committed to strategically engaging the wider industry, and regional universities in Graduate Fashion Foundation, providing support across disciplines for talented creative young people.
Outside of Graduate Fashion Week, Graduate Fashion Foundation created the Protégé Project - a mentorship and connection programme to support new graduates into junior positions at brands such as John Lewis, Matches and River Island, alongside masterclasses, long term mentoring and international showcasing opportunities.
Mentors included Henry Holland, Oliver Spencer, Peter Ruis then Jigsaw CEO, Tania Littlehales then Head of Product PR at Marks & Spencer , Natalia Seranses-James then Head of PR at ASOS and Ainsley Walker then Head of Design at Karen Millen.
“I am really happy to support the Graduate Fashion Week mentoring initiative, and through this help support talented graduates get a start in the industry.”
2010
As River Island and Graduate Fashion Week head into their sixth year of partnership, GFW welcomes Tinie Tempah to perform and Dame Vivienne Westwood attends to explore the next generation of fashion talent.
With judging panels including Lorraine Candy, then editor of Elle and designer Alberta Ferretti, the industry experts select Rebecca Thomson from the Manchester School of Art as the Gold Award winner - an alumni now in a role as a Womenswear Designer at Bruce Oldfield.
The Talent of Tomorrow campaign, the Foundation’s annual photoshoot, is launched in partnership with renowned British photographer Rankin in London to shoot a selection of the year's best student designs. Working closely with Vogue, Rankin photographed the top emerging talent, praising the creativity and intricate detailing of the graduating designers' collections.
“It’s always really tough for graduates,” she said. “But in times like this creativity thrives - the will to do something brilliant has to be very strong.”
2011
In 2011, Graduate Fashion Foundation celebrated its 20th anniversary, with a focus on commercial acumen alongside the creativity that Graduate Fashion Week is known for. Partnering with George, the Gold Award was awarded to Rory Longdon of De Montfort University for his vibrant knitwear collection.
With more than 5,000 students exhibiting, the top awards were taken home by Rory Longdon, Felix Chabluk Smith, Marissa Owen, Wonjee Chung, Dominique Kral and Christina Economu, judged by an expert panel including Amanda Wakeley.
The collections are watched by then Top Gear presenter James May, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Harold Tillman and Laura Bailey to name a few.
As part of the anniversary, Rob Templeman, former Debenhams CEO, becomes Chairman and will hold the position for three years.
2012
As Olympic fever takes over the capital, Earls Court is taken over byrunway shows, exhibitions, and pop-up shops representing work from over 1,000 graduates across more than 40 UK and international universities.
Chris Moore, renowned catwalk photographer, nicknamed ‘king of the catwalk’ received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Graduate Fashion Week Gala Show for a career spanning more than six decades.
The Gold Award judging panel welcomes Christopher Bailey, Daphne Guiness, Suzy Menkes and Fiona Lambert, who select Chloe Jones of Bath Spa University as the winner for her critically acclaimed, gothic architecture-inspired collection, titled 'Our Father Who Art in Heaven', also won her the Best Womenswear award . Chloe is currently the Head of Design at Nobody’s Child.
2013
2013 saw an expansion internationally for the Foundation - with the first ever international catwalk show and award. Angus Chiang from Shih Chien, Taiwan, took home the International Show Award for his highly celebrated "psychedelic space man" collection.
This would be the last year at Earls Court, with the scale demanding more space and opportunity for alternative ways to exhibit creative work. The Gala show, hosted by Henry Holland, awarded Shauni Douglas of Edinburgh College of Art with the Menswear Award. Shauni is currently the Head of RTW Design at McQueen.
Gold Award Winner Lauren Smith of Edinburgh College of Art, Smith received a £20,000 cash prize and a fully paid internship with George at Asda. In addition to this, Graduate Fashion Week presented the GFW Lifetime Achievement to Suzy Menkes OBE, then head fashion reporter and editor for the International Herald Tribune.
The format of the event was also beginning to evolve, with Victoria Beckham attending with a young Romeo Beckham for a Q&A with selected invited students and Colin McDowell, known for his role as Fashion Editor for The Sunday Times.
2014
“The move to the Old Truman Brewery marks a new era for graduate fashion in the heart of one of London’s most vibrant, creative areas. The location is sensational and the space allows us to expand the workshop and atelier areas of the exhibition, as well as showcase the graduate collections on some very cool catwalks”
Moving to Truman Brewery in Shoreditch was a pivotal moment for the Foundation - a warehouse space dedicated to supporting creativity and culture in all its forms. With Asda as the headline sponsor, more than 600 models walked 120km, with more than 65,000 coffees drank over this edition of Graduate Fashion Week.
In a show of commitment to international opportunity and expansion, the event hosted the creations and work of over 1,000 graduates from fashion universities across the UK as well as internationally.
The George Gold Award and GFW Womenswear Award were presented to Grace Weller, of Bath Spa University, who after working as a Costume Assistant for Netflix, went on to found Grace Weller Studio, designing consciously crafted pieces.
Aimee Dunn of Nottingham Trent University took home the Menswear award for her all-black but be-beaded suiting, Rebecca Swann, also Nottingham Trent University, received the Stuart Peters Visionary Knitwear award and Camilla Grimes of Manchester School of Art for the Creative Catwalk award.
The winners were selected by leading industry judges included Sarah Mower, BFC/Vogue Fashion Fund Winner Peter Pilotto, Philip Treacy, Louise Gray, Agi & Sam and Hilary Alexander OBE.
“Winning this award has given me so many opportunities and it has been a great platform for me to promote my work. Most importantly, it gave me confidence and belief in my ability to move on to the next step in my career.”
2015
For the second year, the Truman Brewery played host to more than 1,000 students and 30,000 visitors, consisting of industry professionals, recruiters and guests of the designers.
Julien Macdonald, Gok Wan, Hilary Alexander, Mary Katrantzou, Nick Knight, Suzy Menkes, Colin McDowell, Henry Holland, Cathy Edwards, Zandra Rhodes, Todd Lynn, and David Gandy all joined the FROW, judging panels or presenting spots at the Gala, hosted by Laura Whitemore.
Hannah Wallace from the Manchester School of Art took home the top prize of the event, the George Gold Award, for her innovative and boundary-pushing menswear designs. The prize included £10,000, and was judged by former Gold Award winner Julien MacDonald.
The 24th edition included 23 BA shows and had contributions from 40 UK universities, as well as the introduction of GFW Live Talk space as a full schedule, with panels including industry figures such as V&A curator Claire Wilcox and model Erin O’Connor.
“I owe everything to Graduate Fashion Week”
2016
A cornerstone event, Graduate Fashion Week 2016 marked our 25th year of supporting new fashion talent into the industry, through mentorship, showcasing and industry engagement. To recognise the history and creativity of the GFW community, the Gala featured a retrospective show including Christopher Bailey’s graduate collection, with founders Jeff Banks, Vanessa Denza, and John Walford in attendance.
De Montfort graduate Hazel Symons stole the show, claiming both the Creative Catwalk Award and the £10,000 Christopher Bailey Gold Award. Hazel is now Group Lead/Lecturer for Level 3 Fashion Design at the Fashion Retail Academy, passing on her knowledge and experience to the next generation of fashion talent.
Also showcasing at the event, was Paria Farzaneh, graduate of Ravensbourne, who went on to win the British Fashion Council's NEWGEN Prize in 2019, for the eponymous menswear brand paria/FARZANEH.
In November 2016, the Graduate Fashion Foundation hosted an exclusive reception and catwalk event in the U.K. Houses of Parliament. Held in partnership with the UK Fashion and Textiles Association (UKFT), the event showcased award-winning collections from the 2016 Graduate Fashion Week, bringing together fashion's brightest young talent and key policymakers.
To ensure a lasting legacy of giving back, the Foundation launched four lifetime patrons - Vivienne Westwood, Christopher Bailey, Nick Knight, Victoria Beckham, alongside 20 global ambassadors.
The appointments were revealed during the reception at the Houses of Parliament. As part of this milestone, Vivienne Westwood also became the namesake for the Vivienne Westwood Ethical Award, and Christopher Bailey's longstanding support resulted in the top prize being later named the Christopher Bailey Collection of the Year Award.
Graduate Fashion Foundation, worked with Iain R Webb, GFF Ambassador, to curate a 25th anniversary book, celebrating the history and stories of the Foundation from its inception.
“Making a book is like staging a fashion show. Although the designer takes the applause at the end of the catwalk, there is an extensive, often anonymous team who make it possible. I would like to thank everyone for their generosity and overwhelming support for this project.”
“The hope behind GFW is that young graduates will be spotted by people whose job it is to nurture, promote and mentor fresh creativity no matter where it has been developed, and that’s why it’s important for all of those involved with fashion at all levels and from all regions to see and be seen at this annual talent-fest.”
2017
Edinburgh College of Art dominated the Gala show at the Truman Brewery in 2017 - taking home the M&S Womenswear Award:, Christopher Bailey Gold Award, Hilary Alexander Trailblazer Award, Visionary Knitwear Award and the Catwalk Textiles Award.
Halina North, Edinburgh College of Art, won the Christopher Bailey Gold Award & Hilary Alexander Trailblazer Award, for her sculptural, proportion-twisting garments made from recycled paper and plastics. Halina North held positions at Molly Goddard and McQueen and is currently a Junior Technical Product Developer at TOAST.
Judges of the event represented an array of industry talents, including Hilary Alexander: Editor-at-Large at Hello! Magazine, Michelle Duguid, Senior Fashion Editor at Elle UK, Myriam Coudoux: Head of Communications at Swarovski, Jane Rapley: Former Head of School at Central Saint Martins, Sarah Harris: Fashion Features Director at Vogue., Charlie Porter: Menswear journalist and critic and Cozette McCreery: Designer and co-founder of SIBLING.
Diane Von Furstenberg visited the Truman Brewery to speak with students cross discipline to discover new talent.
“Graduate Fashion Week came to a crescendo last night in London, as the winners were chosen for awards that are aimed at propelling the careers of the UK’s brightest fashion talent into the mainstream consciousness. As always, the Christopher Bailey Gold Award is the big one to win, and this year as was awarded to Halina North from the Edinburgh College of Art for her trailblazing womenswear collection.
We’ve chosen our winner because it was a collection that had showed a great body of work, it had a great sense of creative development and an interesting collection,” said the judging panel, which this year included Anna Clarke of Tu Sainsbury’s, Sadie Frost, Holly Fulton, Matthew Harding and Levi Palmer of Palmer Harding, Sarah Harris, Ryan Lo, Carlos Nazario of Fantastic Man, and Fabio Piras of CSM MA. “It was experimental and had immediate impact during the show.”North, who said after the show that the she hopes her sustainable approach is adopted more widely in the fashion industry, was one of four winners to come from the Edinburgh College of Art, making it one of the institutions most successful Graduate Fashion Weeks to date.”
2018
In 2018, the four-day event showcased the final collections and portfolios of over 1,000 emerging fashion students and graduates from more than 60 UK and international universities, expanding the community of member institutions across the globe. The event saw its largest international presence, with participants from schools such as Parsons New York and the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in China.
Diane Von Furstenberg and businesswoman Nadja Swarovski were named Lifetime Patrons, joining Vivienne Westwood, Christopher Bailey, Nick Knight and Victoria Beckham in becoming recognised as long term supporters of fresh talent.
The Christopher Bailey Gold Award:, won by Rebecca Wilson from Arts University Bournemouth, was judged by a panel of industry experts including Diane von Furstenberg, Christopher Raeburn, Tim Blanks of Business of Fashion, and Fabio Piras of Central Saint Martins. Rebecca is currently the manufacturing manager at Turnbull & Asser. Aurélie Fontan, winner of 6 nominations at and winner of the Catwalk Textiles Award Graduate Fashion Week 2018, has gone on to make waves in the space of bio design, and product design with symbiotic and regenerative principles. In 2019 Aurélie co-founded a mycelium interior design studio with Ashley Granter – Osmose Studio. The studio, awarded the London Mayor Entrepreneur Award in Creative Industries 2020 and IUK grants utilises regenerative properties of mycelium to design fully biodegradable, cold-compostable furniture and home accessories while doing R&D in soil remediation and rewilding with fungi.
More than 20 disciplines were recognised at Graduate Fashion Week, and students in first and second year invited to experience exciting talks with industry leaders as part of the GFW Live! Talk Space. Iconic 1960s supermodel Twiggy appeared as a special guest and keynote speaker in a headline GFW Live "In Conversation" talk with fashion journalist Hilary Alexander.
Outside of the cornerstone event, Graduate Fashion Foundation partnered with Ralph Lauren to launch a series of national masterclasses and portfolio reviews for students at 20 universities - travelling to Bournemouth, Epsom, Nottingham, Manchester and Edinburgh, with all nearby universities invited to join the masterclasses and portfolio reviews.
2019
In 2019, Graduate Fashion Foundation continued the partnership with Tu, which included two talented graduates receiving a year-long scholarship within the Tu design team in Coventry. The chosen graduates will each earn a mentorship with acclaimed British designers Tamara and Natasha Surguladze from label Tata Naka, and returning mentors Rob Jones and Catherine Teatum from; 2016 International Woolmark Prize winning brand Teatum Jones.
“Each of the winners will be mentored throughout their scholarship by the mentors, offering them unparalleled support and guidance, plus for 2019 both winners will visit the Tu India Sourcing Office on a one month working trip. This follows the success of the 2018 mentorship winners, Molly Hopwood and Jennifer Healy who under the guidance of mentors Oliver Spencer and Teatum Jones, have created their own collections that will be showcased at Tu’s stand at this year’s Graduate Fashion Week and launch in Summer 2019.”
The 2019 campaign featured a unique photoshoot focusing on emerging designers, curated by a professional team to spotlight upcoming talent. Influencers including Victoria Magrath, Chloe Street, and Rashpal Amrit modeled the 2019 "Talent of Tomorrow" designs to build industry recognition and maximise visibility for the students work, ahead of showing at Graduate Fashion Week.
“I had such a fantastic day on the shoot. There was so much energy and so much obvious passion from everyone involved. It was so inspiring to be surrounded by such talented, up and coming designers and their unbelievable works of art. Amazing to be part of it!”
As part of the Foundation’s commitment to creating opportunities year round for students and alumni, 2019 marked the first ‘Graduate Fashion Week presents…’.
Graduate Fashion Week presents… took graduates to London Fashion Week for the first time in the British Fashion Council’s Positive Fashion Exhibition. GFW Presents... showcased the work of four of our talented Graduate Fashion Week 2019 alumni, whose collections were part of the Best of Show from GFW 2019. The graduates were selected by the BFC as they sat within their Positive Fashion initiative; designed to champion industry best practice led by three Positive Fashion pillars: Sustainability, Equality & Diversity, Craftsmanship & Community.
Our graduate emerging designers had the opportunity to meet with over 5,000 visitors including Dame Anna Wintour then American Vogue Editor-In-Chief, Sarah Mower, Emerging Talent Ambassador at the British Fashion Council, and Adwoa Aboah the new Mentoring Ambassador for the British Fashion Council. The stand was also visited by GFF Lifetime Patron Dame Zandra Rhodes alongside GFF President Hilary Alexander OBE.
2020
For the first time, Graduate Fashion Week 2020 was officially cancelled in March 2020 due to the global Covid-19 outbreak.
“After careful consideration, following a trustee meeting today, where the options of postponement, curtailment, event redesign and a combination of all of the above were discussed and based on the evolving guidance from the World Health Organisation, national government and health agencies, we have decided that the GFW event could not possibly go ahead in the past format.
”The cancellation of this year’s event will no doubt come as a terrible blow to our incredibly talented final year students, our global member universities and our supportive sponsors and partners, who have been working so hard to make this event happen.
”While we are not taking over the Old Truman Brewery this summer, we are determined that all of the magic of GFW is not lost for the class of 2020. We will be launching a series of activities that will allow GFF to showcase students’ work, with more information on this to follow.”
To ensure that the graduates of 2020 weren’t left behind, the support was reimagined amidst cancelled fashion weeks all across the globe - the traditional four-day event with ongoing virtual initiatives, providing support, digital portfolios, and industry networking opportunities for the class of 2020. Because traditional graduate shows could not take place, various publications and organizations, such as Grazia, stepped in to digitally champion the brightest young talents from universities across the country, including a graduate collections takeover of the Guardian Weekend Magazine.
In response to the once in a lifetime pandemic, the Foundation launched a series of support initiatives:
Partnered with professional network The Dots to promote the work of 2020 final-year students. The network enables recruiters and media to view all students’ work and scout talent on the Graduate Fashion Foundation company profile and curated talent listings.
Launched a new webinar series to connect final-year students with industry experts including ex-editor in chief of British Vogue Alexandra Shulman, British photographer Rankin and fashion director of Red magazine Nicola Rose.
Reworked the Graduate Fashion Foundation 2020 Awards to match students’ delivery of their degree projects.
Replaced the five catwalk awards with four new categories: the Fashion Illustration Award, the Fashion Range Plan Award, the Technical Drawing Award and the Fashion Concept Award.
A new Adaptation Award will “celebrate students’ resourcefulness and problem-solving skills during this unprecedented time”.
The 10 shortlisted students for each award were announced on 10 June. Final judging will took place in July and the winners announced in August..
The Foundation also partnered with Samsung KX (King’s Cross) to host online nominations for the GFW Innovation Award. It hopes there will be the possibility of a physical celebration later this year at Samsung’s innovation space in London’s Coal Drops Yard.
Three other new opportunities were launched to support the 318 design students who have been unable to finish their collections and showcase them on the GFW catwalk.
The TikTok Residency
In a landmark partnership with TikTok, embracing new ideas, technologies and adaptation, the Foundation collaborated with TikTok on a series of activities. 60-70 selected graduates from UK member universities were given the opportunity to design the platform's first official commercial merchandise range, whilst students undertook a paid, five-day residency at a professional factory environment.
The graduates were selected by an industry panel including Henry Holland, Designer and GFF Global Ambassador, Caroline Ash, Production Director at Fashion-Enter AND Cassandra Russell, TikTok Fashion & Retail Brand Partnerships Lead for Europe/EMEA.
2021
Graduate Fashion Week 2021, marking the 30th anniversary of the Graduate Fashion Foundation, took place from June 12 to 18, 2021. The event relocated to a hybrid format at Coal Drops Yard in King's Cross, London, to showcase work from over 3,500 BA graduates representing 26 different fashion disciplines, embracing live streamed catwalks amidst travel restrictions and anxieties to remain as inclusive as possible. The work in 2021 explored themes relevant to the large cultural shift that the global community was going through - conversations around sustainability, freedom, isolation and access.
“Once again Covid-19 restrictions are creating huge obstacles for our Class of 2021, greatly impacting their final year of studies. However, just as we have been for the last 30 years, Graduate Fashion Week will be there as their studies conclude to ensure their work is celebrated and elevated to the industry they aspire to work in. Their resilience and creativity at a time of adversity is something we should all be looking forward to celebrating. We look forward to being able to bring Graduate Fashion Week to its audiences in a new and innovative way with our hybrid event and live streaming opportunities.”
The Foundation evolved its partnership with FACE, Fashion Academics Creating Equality to include a new prize that aims to provide visibility to Black excellence in the industry.
The award is open to all Black and Brown final year students in any BA fashion related course in the UK and the winner will be presented with their prize as part of the annual Graduate Fashion Week Awards held in June, following two rounds of judging panels.
For the first time in its 30-year history, the prize is open to all further education institutions and not just those that are members of the Graduate Fashion Foundation with students able to nominate themselves by submitting their final projects alongside video or written statements in support of their work. The award was judged by an industry panel including NewGen Prize-winning and LVMH Award Shortlisted Designer Bianca Saunders, Creative Director and Cultural Curator Harris Elliott and Designer, Educator and Co-Founder of FACE Andrew Ibi.
“Being a Black student in education continues to be a challenge but being a Black student in Fashion 25 years ago was a different proposition altogether. GFW was an opportunity for me to communicate fashion through culture and push some very powerful Black narratives. Winning was a surprise - but the storytelling was undoubtedly some of the most powerful seen at GFW.”
The FACE prize continues to this day, with the latest iteration taking place in 2026.
Alongside the FACE partnership, 2021 marked the beginning of the PVH Foundation funded black and brown talent showcases and pipelines including an early iteration of The Fashion Accelerator programme.
As part of the drive toward more inclusive and creative showcasing, Graduate Fashion Foundation collaborated with the British Fashion Council, to showcase a digital profile on the official London Fashion Week website, with 37 looks from 10 member universities.
2022
Graduate Fashion Week 2022 remained at Coal Drops Yard in King's Cross, and marked a highly anticipated return to live, in-person catwalks, showcasing the talents of BA fashion students from 40 UK member universities
The event was opened with a VIP catwalk curated and hosted by Graduate Fashion Foundation ambassadors Patrick McDowell, Henry Holland, and Munroe Bergdorf.
Judges included Namal Lanka, Creative Director at Rebel Magazine, Claudia Croft, Editor-in-Chief at 10 Magazine, Samantha Goreteski, Brand Marketing Director, Vans EMEA, Robyn Blake of Victoria Beckham, Hannah Ngakane, Strategic Partnerships Manager at Pinterest; and Michelle Capp of Facebook/Instagram EMEA.
The prestigious Christopher Bailey Collection of the Year Award was won by Northumbria University's Haydn Brown, with the Sportswear & Leisurewear Award awarded to Juliette Wells Gray from Kingston University and the Sustainable Trailblazer Collection Award awarded to Bing Bing Bai.
As part of the Graduate Fashion Week exhibition and beyond, the Foundation created a Retail Trail with graduate work being showcased in stores across Coal Drops Yard including Tom Dixon, Fred Perry and Cos. Samsung KX hosted a series of GFW talks throughout the week with industry experts including Nadja Swarovski, Teatum Jones and Jimmy Choo.
2023
In late 2022, the Foundation lost one of its longest term supporters and the fashion industry lost its most rebellious voice. When the late Dame Vivienne Westwood passed, The Vivienne Westwood Foundation partnered with Graduate Fashion Week to honor the late designer’s legacy by sponsoring an exhibition and a specialized award focusing on sustainability and activism. Students from universities like CSVPA and Leeds Arts University were showcased for work aligned with her four pillars: halting climate change, stopping war, defending human rights, and protesting capitalism.
2023 marked a return to the Truman Brewery now that the COVID-19 pandemic was coming to a close and businesses were returning to activities that has been on pause for the past few years. The event welcomed collections and creative work from graduates across 38 UK universities, celebrating the collections and portfolios of over 3,500 emerging fashion graduates from 26 different disciplines.
CSPVA students have clinched an incredible total of five awards at GFW, with four impressive winners in the highly esteemed Vivienne (Westwood) Foundation Competition. The pieces crafted by CSVPA students were hailed as “outstanding,” “professional,” and “beautiful” by leading industry experts including Kei Kagami. Norwich University of the Arts took home four awards, including the Moving Image award and the Creative and Direction Styling Awards.
“I was shocked to be nominated for three awards and feel very blessed to have managed to win one of the Graduate Fashion Week awards. The judging panel had a very difficult job with so many talented people attending the competition. “I am just grateful for a chance to exhibit my work as it marked the beginning of my career and solidified my confidence in the body of work I produced titled, ‘A New Protagonist.”
2024
The Truman Brewery welcomed Graduate Fashion Week 2024, with a catwalk hall in partnership with Debenhams, with more than 1,000 graduates showcasing across marketing, design, textiles and styling.
Alice Daggett from Winchester School of Art won the coveted GFW24 Gold Catwalk Award, judged by Fabio Piras, Course Director of MA Fashion at Central Saint Martins, Ida Petersson, Curator/Consultant, Sarah Brennand, Douglas MacLennan, Sue Chowles, Joy Campbell, and Emma Calder and Nicholas Daley, GFF Ambassador,
As a continuation of the commitment to the talent pipeline, Graduate Fashion Week Schools & Colleges Day was launched, welcoming more than 500 students from 13-18 to experience a live catwalk show, workshops and talks designed to education students on the possibilities of a career in the fashion industry.
“From a young age, I have loved women’s fashion and unique fabrics. Everything I design is to enable women to feel empowered through garments with timeless elegance. Most of what I design is inspired by what is around me.”
2025
“Monday at Graduate Fashion Week brimmed with the buzz of 20,000 guests and the kind of energy only raw talent can ignite. But off the runway – and deep inside the Digital Hub – I had a runway moment of my own. As part of an interactive activation led by Clo 3D, I was invited to try my hand at virtual garment design. With a keyboard in hand and interface on screen, I created my first piece (a bra, no less): entirely black lace, underwired, pattern-cut and rendered in three dimensions. A fitting finale to a week defined by design debutantes – myself included.”
2026
For 2026, the Foundation has introduced several new areas to solidify our support for disciplines outside of design. . These include the In Print, To Market, Project Pitch and Exposure Gallery, showcasing work from across marketing, photography, fashion business and journalism.
The Careers Quarter is a new addition to Graduate Fashion Week 2026, a dedicated space where final-year fashion graduates connect directly with industry professionals, through a series of 15 minute, structured one-to-one conversations across the event days.The Fashion Accelerator programme, has supported emerging designers, photographers, stylists and creatives, with the support of the PVH Foundation, our Schools and Colleges Day has grown to welcome more than 700 students from more than 50 institutions across the country, and our competitions and industry briefs run all year round.
For 2026, Graduate Fashion Foundation has partner with F&F for Graduate Fashion Week supporting the next wave of fashion talent. Through a focus on emerging designers, F&F is championing creativity and innovation while helping to shape the future of the industry.
The partnership represents an exciting collaboration, including two student briefs for university students across Graduate Fashion Week members, one focused on marketing and one on design, partnering on the F&F Digital Innovation Lab to bring exciting ideas and innovations to the industry and talent pool, an F&F live talk in the GFW26 live talk space, a F&F Curated Catwalk Show, dedicated to final year collections, celebrating creativity, innovation, and emerging talent.
“We’re incredibly excited to be collaborating with Graduate Fashion Week this year. GFW played a pivotal role in my own career, as it has for so many at F&F so being able to support the next generation of designers feels like a true full-circle moment. Nurturing talent is at the heart of what we do at F&F and this partnership is a natural fit. We’re proud to help emerging talent take their first steps into the industry and this marks the start of an exciting, long-term partnership with GFW.”
The partnership with Liberty Fabrics to celebrate 150 years of Liberty London and their Spring Summer ‘26 Floral Rebellion collection, embodies the spirit of collaboration and student engagement. With shared values of individuality and self expression, the Foundation gave final-year students from member universities the opportunity to design a series of garments using the new collection - a competition that will shortlist 40 designs to receive the fabric to bring the vision to life. These designs will be part of an innovative catwalk show during Graduate Fashion Week 2026, with three final winners selected to receive a day's mentorship with the Liberty Fabrics team, a £1,000 prize fund, and a Liberty goody bag.
Graduate Fashion Foundation is focused on creating opportunities for multidisciplinary talent through strategic partnerships, industry collaborations and close connection to our UK and international membership community.
For 2026, the Foundation is focused on refining our offering to ensure maximum impact on young talent - driving tangible experiences and connection to industry through mentorship, judging sessions, portfolio reviews, the newly introduced careers quarter and talent promotion. We have reimagined our communications to reposition the Foundation, aligning to the industry that we connect talent to, focusing on creativity, progression and talent. Working across all disciplines, design, marketing, branding, digital, merchandising, pattern cutting, technology and textiles, Graduate Fashion Foundation is uniquely positioned to bring together young talent from across specialisms to connect and collaborate, building the future networks of the fashion industry. Our approach is agile to respond to the needs of an ever changing industry.
For the rest of 2026, we will be uncovering the 1000’s of alumni whose stories were not told - if you have a Graduate Fashion Week experience to share, click here to let us know!
Discover the full Graduate Fashion Week 2026 schedule.
Get in touch to book schools day tickets here:
If your brand or business can support us to curate experiences and opportunities for young fashion talent, please do get in touch on enquiries@graduatefashionweek.com
