Viewing entries tagged
award winner 2021
Meet Kingston University graduate Joy Julius, winner of the Black Excellence Award at GFW21. Joy’s final major project is inspired by the End SARS protests in Nigeria last year. By using deadstock textiles, Joy’s final major project combines a military-inspired silhouette with that of the floaty dress and hijab worn by activist Aisha Yesufu, one of the co-founders of the Bring Back Our Girls Movement, during the protests.
Meet India Gill, Terry Mansfield Fashion Publication Award Winner. India, who is a graduate from Heriot-Watt University, created a magazine called Powder Blue, which revolves around racial identity. As a mixed race woman, India explores the duality and juxtapositions of her heritage and how it fits into society. Read more about her work below.
Meet Ben Butling, Fashion Marketing Award Winner at GFW21. A graduate from University of The West of England, Ben’s final major project revolved around the European expansion of Arc’teryx, a Canadian-born, extreme adventure brand. Ben’s vision for the brand impressed the judges with its of-the-moment strategy. Read more about his work below!
Meet Layna Miyazaki, a graduate from Falmouth University who won the Fashion Communication Award at GFW21. Layna’s final major project is a multi-medium presentation on the warping of time, induced by the pandemic. Through photography, film and GIFs, Layna explores the impact of isolation.
Meet International Catwalk Award Winner, Filippo Matteo Paolo Barbagallo, a graduate from Istituto Marangoni Firenze. Filippo’s final major project is a collection called Entity, which looks to explore how we convey inner identity through external decisions, like clothing. Read on to learn more about his work!
Meet Victoria Archer, one of two winners of the Tu Challenge 21 at GFW21! Victoria’s final major project was inspired by fishing communities around the world, especially in a small community of female deep-sea divers in Korea, called Haenyeo. Read all about how she translated this into her work below.
Meet Jordy Mawhood, winner of the 2021 New Fashion Media award, which was supported by TikTok. Jordy’s final major project began life as an app designed to keep sex workers safe from violence but has since grown to be a safety measure that anyone can use while dating. She’s also created a podcast and a zine to expand on her ideas through different mediums, impressing the TikTok judges. Read on below!
Meet Izzy Wells, a Fashion Communication and Business Studies from the University of Brighton. Izzy won the Fashion Illustration Award at GFW21 with her Frida Khalo inspired illustrations that tackle topics of self-expression and self-acceptance. Read on to learn more!
Meet Shweta Vakharia, the winner of the Fashion Innovation Award at GFW21. Shweta’s final major project was inspired by the experience of her cousin, who was involved in a traumatic car accident. Her aim has been to create clothing that supports and comforts people with textural sensations and fidget toys.
Meet ZiLing Dong, the winner of the Sportswear & Leisurewear Award at GFW21. ZiLing, who is a graduate from Edinburgh College of Art, impressed the judges from GymShark with her work, which is inspired by physical and mental imbalance. “I got inspiration from distorted body shapes, bad living habits, and unbalanced life states,” she says. “The collection presented the transitions between balance, imbalance, compensatory balance and many other states in a dark and exaggerated way.”
Meet Olivia Creighton, a fashion design graduate from Sheffield Hallam University. Olivia’s final major project is an exploration of feminism and feminine stereotypes of the 1950s in America. “My project was a look at the untraditional view on feminism different to the narrative we know today, women who believed that equal rights for women were anti-feminism and the best way to practice being a good wife, mother and woman was to stay at home and fulfil the duties that were thrust upon you from a childbearing age,” she explains.
Meet Mimi Simpson, the winner of the Considered Fashion Award at GFW21. Mimi impressed the award judges, Orsola De Castro from Fashion Revolution and Patrick McDowell, fashion designer and activist. Her 6 look collection is made entirely of up-cycled materials that she sourced from second hand and charity stores where Mimi worked.
Meet Nadiya Sharif, a fashion design graduate from the University for the Creative Arts. Nadiya’s award winning collection is a celebration of her personal heritage as an immigrant woman living in London. Read more about her work below!
Meet Jessica Craddock, a fashion design graduate from Nottingham Trent University. Jessica’s award-winning fashion concept was all about celebrating handcrafts through a 6 outfit collection, inspired by a poem called Patient People that was written by her grandad.
Meet Natasha Finlay, a graduate from Northampton University who won the GFW21 Accessories Award, supported by YKK. Natasha’s final major project is inspired by dreams and nightmares that she and her peers experienced due to the pandemic. She translated these dreams into a collection that won over the industry judges with her use of print.
Meet Charlie Irwin, the winner of two awards at GFW21. Charlie was awarded the Footwear Award supported by size? as well as being one of two winners of the Tu Challenge 21! Charlie’s footwear collection is inspired by the great outdoors, and his use of materials centres around upcycling. Read more below!
Meet Ebony Barrett, the winner of the Fashion Styling & Creative Direction Award at GFW21! Ebony’s final major project is all about reclaiming stereotypes through an editorial and short film. “Black people are demonised for archaic stereotypes (the jezebel, the black best friend, the angry black woman) whilst stolen from for cool new ‘trends',” says Ebony. “My project focuses on black women reclaiming these features and turning them into superpowers.”
Meet Elise Sugden, the winner of the GFW21 Childrenswear Award. Her collection was inspired by the pandemic from the perspective of a child. “Over the past year, children have been isolated and away from their friends, without fully understanding why. (Leaving the reality unseen). This can lead to escapism either through playing with toys or technology,” says Elise.
Meet GFW21 Zandra Rhodes Textile Award Winner, Max Telford. Max is a graduate from Northumbria University, whose textiles impressed the exhibition award judges, which included GFF Global Ambassador and award namesake, Dame Zandra Rhodes.
Meet Abigail Wall, the GFW21 Fashion Range Plan Award Winner, from Arts University Bournemouth. Abigail’s work impressed industry judges including Fiona Lambert, MD at Jaeger. Abigail’s work is architecturally inspired. “My love for art lead me to look at sculpture and architecture, and so my starting point was Palais Bulles (The bubble house) in the south of France by architect Antti Lovag, an extraordinary piece of architecture where all walls and windows are harmonious curves,” she says.
