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Hannah Blakeman's collection (BFC Burberry Competition winner)

Hannah Blakeman's collection (BFC Burberry Competition winner)

Fashion students in vogue at Graduate Fashion Week

1 June 2018

Manchester School of Art students are stacking up competition victories and award nominations ahead of this year’s Graduate Fashion Week

The School of Art hosts a catwalk show at the annual event that celebrates the best young design talent.

Over a dozen students have already been shortlisted for awards and competitions, with more to be announced when the event kicks off on 3rd June.

And the University is already celebrating two winners – with BA (Hons) Fashion students Hannah Blakeman and Miho Ara winning the BFC Burberry and Topman competitions respectively.

Miho Ara's design
Miho Ara's design

Hannah wins a cash prize and a paid one-year internship at the esteemed fashion house, and Miho receives a paid year-long post at Topman’s design studios.

The full list of winners and nominations for Manchester School of Art so far is:

Winners

Hannah Blakeman (BA Fashion, Manchester School of Art) – BFC Burberry Competition

Miho Ara (BA Fashion, Manchester School of Art) – BFC Topman Competition

Nominations

Libby Bowler (BA Fashion, Manchester School of Art) - GFW Tu at Sainsbury Scholarship, GFW Superdry Award

Jennifer Healy (BA Fashion, Manchester School of Art) - GFW Tu at Sainsbury Scholarship

Natasha Zelinka (BA Fashion, Manchester School of Art) - GFW Lenzing Sustainable Denim Competition

Vincent Wang (BA Fashion, Manchester School of Art) - GFW YKK Award, David Band Textiles Award

Sarah Hammond (BA Fashion, Manchester School of Art) - GFW David Band Textiles Award

Zaiton Lamat (BA Fashion, Manchester School of Art) - GFW Superdry Award

Coren Buckley (BA Fashion, Manchester School of Art) - Asos Future Talent Award 

Miho Ara (BA Fashion, Manchester School of Art) - Asos Future Talent Award 

Claudia Bampoh (BA Fashion, Manchester School of Art) - L5 Asos Future Talent Award

James Siddons (BA Fashion, Manchester School of Art) - L5 Asos Future Talent Award

Chantelle Hobbs (BA Fashion, Manchester School of Art) - L4 Asos Future Talent Award

Ciara Courtney (BA Fashion, Manchester School of Art) - L4 Asos Future Talent Award

Sophie Hui Lin Walker (BA Fashion, Manchester School of Art) - Drapers Fashion Publication Award

Gabriela Kravcenko (BA Fashion, Manchester School of Art) - Styling and Creative Direction Award

Robin Kerr, Acting Programme Leader in Fashion at Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University, said: “The School of Art prides itself in all areas of fashion design including, womenswear, menswear, knitwear, print and embroidery. We believe in innovation and creativity, paying homage to handcrafted techniques and challenging the future of fashion.

“Audiences from the fashion industry and the public visiting Graduate Fashion Week will see collections that embrace traditional and non-traditional print techniques, beautiful knit and traditional leather work. Colour, layering and challenging the traditional silhouettes is also a feature in the selection of work to be showcased.

“We hope that the catwalk is a great success for every one of our students, and we thank Graduate Fashion Week for their continual support with our new emerging fashion talent.”

Manchester School of Art held a catwalk show at the Holden Gallery earlier in May, from which a selection of sixteen students were chosen to showcase their work at the Graduate Fashion Week catwalk show (Monday 4th June, 5pm).

Graduate Fashion Week showcases the work of over 1000 graduating students each year, attracting 30,000 guests across 25 catwalk shows, exhibitions from over 40 universities and an acclaimed Gala Award Show.

The week is responsible for launching the careers of some of the most successful designers of our time including Christopher Bailey MBE, who was the winner of the first ever Graduate Fashion Week Gold Award, Stella McCartney, Giles Deacon, Matthew Williamson and Julien Macdonald.