World-class craftsmanship meets catwalk glamour at the Newcastle Fashion Show

The next generation of fashion designers presented their collections at Northumbria University’s annual fashion show this week.

Talented final-year students from Northumbria’s award-winning fashion degree showcased their stunning work to a VIP audience at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead ahead of Graduate Fashion Week in London next month.

The Newcastle Fashion Exhibition and Catwalk Show is one of the region’s most anticipated cultural events and sees a who’s who of industry names, global brands, business leaders, academics past and present, design alumni and more, descend on BALTIC each year to see new, creative graduate work in fashions and textiles.

This year was no different with 78 fashion producing between three and five garment ‘looks’ for Menswear or Womenswear or a textile sample collection across three live shows throughout the day. Students were challenged to select and design for a specific market and type of clothing and to explore craftsmanship through a range of specialisms including pattern cutting, constructed knitwear or printed textiles. This year, there were two daytime shows featuring a new live exhibition format followed by the catwalk show on the evening and VIP drinks on BALTIC’s River Terrace.

Kristen Pickering, programme leader for Fashion at Northumbria University, said: “We have been very impressed by the craftsmanship and creativity of this year’s students and we were extremely proud and excited to share their work. It has been a very rewarding experience for the teaching staff to witness these final collections take shape and this week’s shows have been the perfect platform for the students to launch their careers. The show at BALTIC and Graduate Fashion Week in a few weeks’ time are an ideal platform for the students, with both shows closely watched by industry each year.

“Over the last three years, the students have worked hard and have shown the dedication and commitment you need to succeed in this industry. It is already paying off, with a number of this year’s cohort securing high-profile job opportunities with the industry internationally. We’ll be watching their careers with anticipation and fully expect our students to go onto great things.”

A total of 20 student designers from this year’s Northumbria Fashion course will participate in London Graduate Fashion Week from 4 June 2017. This will be an opportunity to showcase their designs and compete with other graduating fashion students from institutions around the country. Students from Fashion, Fashion Design and Marketing and Fashion Communication, will also be showing their final undergraduate year work at this high-profile event.

Northumbria’s award-winning BA (Hons) Fashion course is renowned for the calibre of its business-ready graduates and has a hugely impressive list of alumni, with graduates employed internationally at global brands such as Old Navy, Barbour, Erdem, Abercrombie & Fitch, Givenchy, Lanvin, Burberry, Jaeger, Tommy Hilfiger, Richard Nichol, River Island, Top Shop, Next, and Ralph Lauren.

To find out more about studying Fashion at the University, register for Northumbria’s summer Open Days on Friday 30 June and Saturday 1 July at www.northumbria.ac.uk/openday