Top title for Northumbria graduate at Midlands fashion design awards

Northumbria University Fashion Design graduate Harriet Eccleston has been crowned Young Designer of the Year at the 10th annual Midlands Fashion Awards.

The event celebrated creative fashion talent across the Midlands region and included a catwalk show and awards ceremony.

The nine award categories aimed to recognise the wealth of talent in the region, and included Emerging Designer, Rising Star and Photographer of the Year.

Harriet, who is originally from Derbyshire, said: “It was amazing to be part of such a prestigious event highlighting the breadth of talent outside London. I feel over the moon to have won Young Designer of the Year 2017, made even more special by the quality of work from the other graduates in the same category.

“The Midlands Fashion Awards was the step towards becoming an independent designer that I needed after graduating. Northumbria University gave me a well-rounded understanding of many aspects of the fashion industry, which made finding placements and, more recently employment, easier.

“I was able to develop my style and confidence as a designer with the support and encouragement of brilliant tutors and technicians around me. I am now working part time at Paul Smith, which is giving me great hands on experience and at the same time is allowing me to set up my own label under my name, Harriet Eccleston.”

Harriet’s graduate collection ‘Entwined’ was inspired by the lives of members of her family, who were originally from the North East. The collection captures the essence of family life and childhood memories by portraying the feeling of safety, comfort and security, interlocking with well-crafted and refined ideals of the 1900s.

It is not the first success for the young designer who, while studying at Northumbria University, was chosen to showcase her final year collection at Graduate Fashion Week 2017, where she was nominated for Sainsbury’s Tu Scholarship Award.

Throughout her time at Northumbria, Harriet completed several interesting internships. She carried out two six month placements with Palmer//Harding and Paul Smith, following which she was asked back by both companies to assist during London Fashion Week. She also interned for British fashion retailer All Saints, which is sold globally across 27 countries.

Since graduating from Northumbria University with a First Class Honours degree, Harriet has moved back to Derbyshire where she is setting up her own fashion label as well as working for Paul Smith.

For more information about Harriet’s work, please visit her website, www.harrieteccleston.co.uk, Facebook page or follow her on Instagram.

Northumbria offers a range of courses within the School of Design from Fashion Design and Marketing to Luxury Brand Management. Design alumni include Sir Jonathan Ive (Senior Vice-President, Apple), Rob Law MBE (Founder, Trunki), Nicola Morgan (Designer, Lanvin, Paris) and Tim Brown (Chief Executive, IDEO).

To find out more about studying at Northumbria University come along to one of our upcoming Open Days or visit www.northumbria.ac.uk.

Photo credit: Fez_photo