Central Saint Martins is not the only college turning out world class fashion talent. As Graduate Fashion Week showed, would-be fashion designers can find rigorous courses outside of the capital - they just have to know what to look for and be prepared to work hard
BY Tamsin Blanchard | 04 June 2014
Photo: GETTY
Last night's Graduate Fashion Week Awards show showcased some of the diverse and varied talents of young fashion designers around the country. I am pleased to report that creativity, innovation and original thought is still very much alive at some of the UK's hardest working institutions from Bath Spa University to Nottingham Trent and Manchester University.
Over a period of four days, Graduate Fashion Week took place at the Truman Brewery in London's Brick Lane with 21 catwalk shows and an exhibition space showing the work of over 1,000 graduates from the most influential universities in the UK and abroad (Central Saint Martins, University of Westminster and London College of Fashion all prefer to show independently of GFW).
READ: Double award for Bath Spa student at Graduate Fashion Week
GFW is a charity organisation and was founded in 1991 by Jeff Banks, Vanessa Denza, and John Wolford. Now in its 23rd year, the event acts as a showcase for fashion graduates across all the disciplines hoping to find employment as they leave college.
A panel of industry insiders served as judges for the various awards including the British Fashion Council's ambassador for emerging talent Sarah Mower, Hilary Alexander, Caryn Franklin and designers Agi & Sam, Philip Treacy, Louise Gray and Peter Pilotto.
Despite cuts and the introduction of tuition fees (the class of 2014 was the last lot of students who were not expected to pay upwards of £9,000 per year for their fashion education) a good handful of the UK's art colleges and universities are still turning out ace print designers, inventive textile designers and creative stylists, many of whom are going to go on to enrich the international fashion houses from New York to Milan - a few might even stay in the UK.
Menswear designs by Owen Hughes of the Manchester School of Art. Photo: Getty
Traditionally, the UK has been renowned for the quality of its art education, but that is gradually being eroded as art colleges have been brought under the university umbrella and art and design degrees made increasingly academic and dependent on irrelevant marking systems and administrative bureaucracy.
With the two top posts in fashion education vacant at the moment - Louise Wilson's position as head of fashion at Central Saint Martins MA and Wendy Dagworthy who retires this year from the RCA - the two most respected MA degrees are on the brink of a shake up. However, at BA level there are still some colleges with passionate and visionary teachers working hard to keep the values of a good art and design education alive. And it shows.
Clothes by Jessica Long of Norwich University of the Arts. Photo: Getty
The big winner of the GFW Awards show was Bath Spa University. Its student Grace Weller, won the Best Womenswear designer as well as the George Gold Award worth £10,000. Her first collection will be put into production by George as Asds which sponsors GFW. Bath Spa won both awards in 2012 also, marking it out as a centre of excellence (though without quite the high profile reputation of Central Saint Martins) that prospective fashion students might do well to consider if they don't want the additional cost of high rent in London.
Grace Weller's award-winning collection. Photo: Getty
Bath Spa's fashion degree is now marked out as a hot spot. Weller's collection of dresses made from delicate cobwebs of lace was underpinned by a portfolio which demonstrated hand-drawing, as well as hand- making skills which are key elements of a great fashion course.
'I am definitely on the lookout for local centres of excellence,' said Sarah Mower, whose role for the British Fashion Council involves her new developing new initiatives that will increase both profile and sales opportunities for designer businesses.
Design by Julia Sparkle of the Arts University Bournemouth. Photo: Getty
Bath Spa, Bournemouth, Falmouth, Leeds and Manchester have good reputations as well as Edinburgh, and Nottingham Trent. Mower has some great advice for prospective fashion students.
'It's really essential that students have properly researched what the courses are like - and whether they genuinely want to be designers or in another area of fashion. It costs so much to go to university now that it makes no sense to go on a mediocre course, when you could pay the same to go somewhere which will push, develop and connect you with the wider world. I would always look for somewhere which has a great emphasis on artwork, hand-drawing, making and encouraging personal work and hands-on skills. If all the work you see looks identical and has been spat out of a computer, be wary.'
Designs by Sophie Stevenson of the University of Northampton. Photo: Getty
Epsom University had three students in the awards show last night. But the senior lecturer design tutor for the third year students, Barbara Baum, is not resting on her laurels. She says there are many challenges to overcome - particularly with the introduction of fees, which have increased pressure on the teaching staff.
'Just because the students pay £9,000 doesn't mean we have better resources or teaching,' she said. 'The students think more that they can buy a degree: 'I pay so much so why are the marks so low?' It's corrupting. You can't expect that just by paying for it you receive a guaranteed product at the end. It depends on hard work and talent.'
The irony is that while students' (and their parents) expectations of good marks at the end of their degree are being raised, Baum tells her students that in the world of art and design, the final mark is an irrelevance. Baum herself received a First from CSM and then a First from the RCA when she graduated in 2000. 'I wish I could tell my employers what marks I had,' she laughs. 'Nobody has ever asked.'
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