A student designer has won the chance to work with one of the UK’s biggest fashion retailers
The more work experience you have, the more likely you are going to get hired, so having opportunities like this will really help me in the long run. It’s going to be such an amazing experience!
BA (Hons) Fashion students at Staffordshire University were invited to take part in a live design brief set by fashion giant Next as part of their second-year studies.
The students were challenged with designing a new Autumn/Winter 2023 capsule collection of four outfits aimed at the 18 to 24-year-old market and their portfolios were judged by head of womenswear design, Melanie Castledine.
The winning collection was awarded to Hannah Severn, 19, from Nottingham, who will now join the Next design team on a work placement.
Hannah said: “We had to design garments that would appeal our age group but also reflect Next’s ethos so it was a really good project to experiment further with my design skills and I really enjoyed it!
“I was shocked when I won! I’ve always loved fashion since I was a child, so I’m grateful to have the chance to get experience in the industry and build my CV.”
Hannah was influenced by the film ‘Do Revenge’ which mixes different subcultures and bright colours. Her collection includes a leather biker jacket, trench coat, party skirt, dress, oversized shirt and corset top.
“I wanted to keep it very high street and create clothes that people could wear day-to-day. I looked into fashion sub-cultures and wanted my collection to be mix and match because everyone is different.” she explained.
“I also wanted it to be size appropriate for different sizes and bring in different masculine and feminine elements that make it universal for everybody.”
The BA (Hons) Fashion degree brings together the creative, technical, academic and professional skills needed to sustain a career in the fashion industry. All students take part in live industry briefs like this one and have the option of choosing a one-year placement in industry.
Lecturer in Fashion, Angela Devoti, commented: “Live briefs are essential to our course in allowing our students to harness their industry knowledge and skills in practice. It encourages students to question and challenge their ideas in order to respond to a diverse range of design briefs.”
Hannah added: “The more work experience you have, the more likely you are going to get hired, so having opportunities like this will really help me in the long run. It’s going to be such an amazing experience!”
Discover more about BA (Hons) Fashion and Staffordshire University’s range of Art and Design degrees.