Q&A

ORACLE GOLD AWARD & THE CREATIVE CATWALK AWARD | HAZEL SYMONS | DE MONTFORT UNIVERSITY

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE NAMED AN AWARD WINNER?

It's been a few weeks now since winning the Oracle Gold Award and it's still taking time for it to sink in! I'm still in shock, but the experience and responses that I’ve had have been simply incredible.

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING SINCE GFW?

I've been very busy answering and attending interviews and helping out at De Montfort Universities degree show, which was a huge success! I've also recently won the Christopher Collection Prize at DMU, which is where the university purchases an outfit to add to the universities archives. I have chosen to make a replica of the outfit as I wish to keep mine. I've spent so much time making my collection that I can't bare to split it up! So, I've been pretty busy with that too.

WHAT ARE YOUR HOPES FOR THE FUTURE?

I've had an amazing amount of coverage and that's thanks to GFW. The awards don't just benefit me either; they also benefit the students and the university, which is great.

HAS BEING INVOLVED WITH GFW LED TO ANYTHING ELSE?

I've decided to go into the industry first before adventuring into my MA degree. I feel that I will learn some valuable lessons and new skills, which in turn, will feed into my MA. I'm starting an internship at Sophie Hulmes in August as an accessories designer. I think I'll enjoy learning something outside of my normal field, so I'm looking forward to getting stuck in!

WHEN DID YOU FIRST HEAR ABOUT GFW?

I first heard about GFW when I was doing my BTEC studies. My college course came to GFW to look at universities and the show. GFW benefits students before, during, and after university, so it's for everyone really, which is great.