We’re super excited to announce that we’ll be partnering with Tu for the sixth year running, this year as Headline Partner for Graduate Fashion Week 2021.
Building on the success of the Tu Scholarship prize over the past five years, which celebrated emerging fashion design talent, the 2021 partnership sees the launch of the ‘Tu Challenge 21’ which will task the Class of 2021 at Graduate Fashion Foundation UK member universities, to think big and create a product under any fashion category, with sustainability at its heart.
The Tu team are looking for innovative new ways to create collections and product with key considerations in bio-based product, bio-degradability, circular lifestyle and traceability and what better way to find fresh and innovative ideas than directly from the future of fashion.
The ‘Tu Challenge 21’ will see two talented winning graduates each receive a £5,000 prize and the opportunity to be guided by the in-house teams, gaining invaluable insight into the fashion industry from buying through to design to see their winning ideas come to life.
The ‘Tu Challenge 21’ judging will take place on 4th June in central London with an industry panel from Tu including Samantha Barrows - Innovation Manager for Clothing & Home, Toni Salters-Warner - Women’s Design Manager, Debra Martin – Clothing Technical Manager and Hannah Mallett – Women’s Essentials Buying Manager, where the 10 shortlisted final year students will have the opportunity to present their entries for the prestigious opportunity. The winners will be announced during the Graduate Fashion Week Awards show at 8 pm on Friday 18th June 2021 which will be live-streamed on www.graduatefashionweek.com.
As part of the continued partnership, Tu will be present during Graduate Fashion Week 12th – 18th June at Coal Drops Yard with a retrospective exhibition of past award winners, Tu graduate fashion collections and new campaigns, alongside a Tu panel talk being live-streamed from Samsung KX. Additionally, the Tu team will be on-site during GFW scouting talent and viewing portfolios.