Fashion Highlights - Semester 2

Another busy semester across Fashion, honing print and textile skills, working on live briefs, and culminating in final year exhibitions at Degree Show and collections walking the runway at Graduate Fashion Week.

Accessible streetwear fashion wins award and Graduate Fashion Week recognition

Some achievements are defined as much by resilience as by talent. This year, that's true of Patrick Ang, recipient of the University's prestigious Scarr Hall Memorial Prize, awarded in recognition of outstanding creative achievement and resilience in overcoming adversity.

Originally from the Philippines and a deaf student, Patrick progressed through our Foundation Year and into BA (Hons) Fashion, distinguishing himself through an innovative textile practice and a bold, genderless streetwear collection built around denim, bleach, and paint. His commitment to inclusive and accessible fashion earned wider recognition when his work was selected for Graduate Fashion Week in London - a genuine milestone, and a clear signal of where his career is heading. We can’t wait to see what Patrick creates next!

We caught up with Patrick at the on-campus Degree Show exhibition to discuss his collection ahead of showcasing it on the runway at Graduate Fashion Week.

Final Major Project showcase: Mehman by Mehrish

Among the range of fantastic Final Major Projects from the Level 6 Fashion Marketing & Communication module, (a module designed to help students establish their own creative identity through independent research, concept development, and professionally resolved outcomes) one collection stood out for its clarity of vision.

Mehrish Pahilani launched Mehman by Mehrish, a fusion occasion-wear brand built around the philosophy of "culture, reimagined." Blending brand storytelling, visual direction, and digital content, Mehrish drew on South Asian craft, emotional storytelling, nostalgic glamour, and cinematic drama to celebrate heritage through a genuinely contemporary fashion language. What made the project so compelling was how personal cultural identity was transformed into a sophisticated, cohesive brand concept with a clear and confident voice - exactly the kind of creative maturity this module is designed to draw out.

Mehrish also discusses her time working in various roles for Susie Turner Couture and behind the scenes at London Fashion Week.  

A live brief from industry: Fashion Hot Topics and collaboration with Culture&

Our Level 4 Fashion Hot Topics module gave students the chance to work on a live brief in collaboration with the charity Culture&, responding to The Unhomely - a programme exploring diaspora, migration, cultural displacement, memory, identity, and belonging.

Students investigated how fashion, textiles, and material culture can communicate experiences of home, displacement, and inherited memory, while engaging seriously with sustainability and the idea of the uncanny, before translating their research into individual creative outcomes. Standout responses included Helina Addae, who explored the uncanny; Greg Say, who communicated a migrant's journey through cloth; and Thomas Ormerod, who traced his great-nonna's journey from famine in Italy through his design practice. The strongest outcomes are now being considered for exhibition as part of Culture&'s Unhomely exhibition at The Brampton Museum, in nearby Newcastle under Lyme. A genuine platform for student work to reach a wider public audience.

View a small selection of the designers’ responses and comprehensive research in the gallery at the bottom of this article.

Mastering craft: Textiles

Textiles have become an increasingly central part of the Fashion course throughout ths year, with students embedding print and surface design more deeply into their creative practice than ever before. Screen printing, hand painting, and experimental textile techniques have seen particular growth, giving students the ability to create bespoke, one-of-a-kind fabrics built specifically for their own fashion outcomes.

This greater emphasis on textiles has encouraged bolder experimentation with colour, pattern, texture, and materiality - helping students develop a distinctive visual identity while bringing a more personal, handcrafted quality to their final garments and collections.

Looking ahead

In the coming new academic year, we’re genuinely excited to be working more collaboratively across Art and Design disciplines and the Creative Industries department more widely. We’ll be exploring a fresh, ambitious curriculum alongside our students but focus remains clear: giving students a strong, real-world skill set while continuing to nurture their individual creativity, ambitions, and specialist interests.

The development of our optional Fashion pathways:
BA (Hons) Fashion & Textiles
BA (Hons) Fashion Design & Technology,
BA (Hons) Fashion Marketing & Communication
alongside BA (Hons) Fashion, now gives students greater opportunity to shape and take ownership of their specialist practice, particularly as they progress into Level 6. The breadth and ambition already emerging in ideas for upcoming Final Major Projects is genuinely exciting, and we can't wait to see how students use their chosen pathways to develop distinctive creative identities and prepare for their future within the creative industries.

We look forward to seeing you in the studios and workshops soon!