Every year, Graduate Fashion Week celebrates the most extraordinary talents from UK and around the world, ushering them into spotlight as they take home the most prestigious awards given to graduates in fashion.
This year, our judges couldn’t help but notice one graduate in particular for her work’s impeccable visual impact and originality- Halina North from Edinburgh College of Art, whose womenswear collection won both the Christopher Bailey Gold Award and the Hilary Alexander Trailblazer Award in partnership with Swarovski!
The Christopher Bailey Gold Award is the most impressive award at Graduate Fashion Week, with its first winner being Burberry’s current CEO Christopher Bailey back in 1991. Nearly 30 years later, the Gold Award at GFW has now become a standard of outstanding originality, craftsmanship, and catwalk impact, awarding talented designers such as Hazel Symmons from De Montfort, winner in 2016. As winner this year, Halina’s prizes include £10,000 for herself as well as £2000 for her university Edinburgh College of Art.
The Hilary Alexander Trailblazer Award in partnership with Swarovski, is a brand new award introduced at GFW17 designed to capture the most refreshing fashion direction. The star-studded judging panel this year included Hilary Alexander OBE, Daniel Lismore, and Matty Bovan, who were all stunned by Halina, awarding her with £1,000 and her university £250.
The award-worthy talent at GFW 2017 was immeasurable and every decision was an extremely difficult one. To be the winner of two awards, Halina’s victory is seriously a triumphant one! We want to send out our warmest congratulations to her. With these accolades in her catalogue, we are sure that Halina’s future has only exciting things to come!
Words by Matilda Liu