RIVER ISLAND AWARDS £20,000 PRIZE AT GRADUATE FASHION WEEK

 

RIVER ISLAND AWARDS £20,000 PRIZE AT GRADUATE FASHION WEEK

With a life-changing prize of £20,000 the prize was judged and presented by British Vogue’s Editor Alexandra Shulman, Yves Saint Laurent’s Creative Director Stefano Pilati, Richard Bradbury,
Managing Director River Island and designer Sophia Kokosalaki. In addition to Jesse’s prize, her university will  also receive £2,000. The judging criteria, was work that most clearly demonstrates exceptional ability in Design, Cut and Construction as well as excellent use of Colour and Fabric. “I’m shocked and flattered the standard was incredible. It’s great to finish my degree on such a high. This prize is going to help me realise my dream of creating one-off designs and possibly setting up my  own label” Jesse Noy, University of West of England In recognition of the high calibre of entries. Two highly commended student’s, were also awarded £1,000 each by River Island, and their respective universities £500 each.

They were Wowo Kraus from Middlesex University and Amanda
Wilding from Salisbury College. Hosted by June Sarpong and her T4
co-presenter Steve Jones, this year’s Graduate Fashion Week Gala show saw a  glittering array of fashion luminaries lending their support to the event including judges and presenters Mulberry’s Stuart Vevers, Mary Quant, Alice Temperley,  Jimmy Choo OBE, Mark Eley (Eley Kishimoto), photographer Mary McCartney  Donald, Liberty’s Design Director Tamara Salman, model Jade Parfitt and fashion illustrator David Downton.

“This is the first time that I have participated with an event like
Graduate Fashion Week. I definitely think that the only valuable fashion schools in the world are the British ones. The “pushing forward” and “edgy quality” of the British trained designers defines a real fashion culture, full of creativity and very different from any others in Europe. It seems to me that they are the only ones that enjoy the pure sense of fashion.” Stefano Pilati, Creative Director YSL Support from the GFW Mentoring Panel will be offered to all Graduate Fashion Week winners and Jesse, the winner of the River Island Gold Award, will also receive a year’s membership to the London Fashion Forum and the London Apparel Resource Centre, providing her with a unique platform to launch a  successful career in the industry.

 

RIVER ISLAND BRAND DEVELOPMENT AWARD
Based around the creation and communication of a new range of lifestyle  products, appropriate to the River Island brand identity and its future  development. The winner of this award Elisher Abel from the University of Central Lancashire, received £5,000 and a year’s subscription to the industry bible WGSN. The University of Central
Lancashire also received £500. Richard Bradbury, Managing Director of
River Island commented:

“We received a great response to the RIBDA; some of the entries were fantastic & as we expected very varied. The judges were unanimous in focussing on 3 entries to be short-listed. All 3 had really understood the brief & seemed to have got right under the skin of the brand, having come up with ideas that were imaginative & completely up to the minute. From allowing the visually impaired to enjoy the ‘experience’ of going shopping for fashion, to a great idea that would help every web shopper find an outfit that really suited them & made them look & feel great.”

ZANDRA RHODES CATWALK TEXTILES AWARD
The criteria for this award was to find a directional and innovative
collection created through the use of original design in either printed
or constructed textiles, which explore the relationship between garment and textile. The award was judged by Ben Scholten from Zandra Rhodes, who selected Kerrie Scott from the University College
of Northampton as the winning student he commented: “The standard was incredibly high and it was so hard to judge as every designer has
something different to offer and all have different talents. Eventually I went for Kerrie, her collection was just incredibly colourful and I loved the way she’s done all the knitted hems to match the
bags. Such a happy collection it makes you want to smile immediately
which is just great.”

GVD ACCESSORIES AWARD
The GVD Accessories Award was judged by Stuart Vevers, Creative Director at Mulberry and presented by Stuart Vevers and Jimmy Choo OBE. The criteria of the award was to bring a modern directional approach to the accessories arena. The award with given to David Hodgson from Northumbria University. Stuart commented:
‘Accessories has become a huge business, most courses would do well to include an accessories module as growth in this sector has increased year on year – we have 8 designers at Mulberry focusing on accessories alone.

Overall the standard of the students work has been very high and it was very difficult to select the winner because of the strength of the competition. However David Hogson was
eventually chosen because of his strong portfolio. His work was very
different with a strong sense of colour, great illustration and did not come with the usual accessories mindset.’

WATERMAN FASHION ILLUSTRATION AWARD
The criteria for this award, was to find a visual form showing a strong
fashion direction with a fresh approach, strong visual impact and a
creative use of media, using traditional tools and techniques, with no digital manipulation. Judged by leading fashion illustrator David Downton and Sue Moscatelli, Waterman’s UK Marketing Manager – this award was given to Elliot Atkinson from Edinburgh College of Art. David Downton and Sue Moscatelli commented: “The Waterman Fashion Illustration award brings recognition to the diversity and impact of contemporary fashion illustration and Elliot’s work elegantly embraces Waterman’s creative spirit.” Sue Moscatelli, Marketing Manager For Waterman In The UK.

CREATIVE MARKETING
This award was presented by Patrick Burgoyne from Creative Review and Adidas’s Global Head of Entertainment Promotions Trend Marketing, Gary Aspden.  The criteria for the award was a marketing plan showing the value of innovation with a creative approach and the development of an innovative output/product and the promotion of such. This award was given to Karen Chi Man Luk from the University of Central Lancashire.  Patrick Burgoyne and Gary Aspden commented.

“I was very impressed with the breadth and depth of the entries
generally. Students were asked to demonstrate knowledge and
understanding over a very wide area,from business plans to creative executions: this they did admirably.  This year’s winner, Karen (Central Lancashire), delivered a portfolio of work that reflects changes in
the fashion industry overall: it was a concept that was about more than fashion as it considered a whole lifestyle.

I have been judging student work for over ten years and this was one of the most impressive projects that I have seen. It
was a clear winner.” Patrick Burgoyne – Creative Review
“This year’s work was consistently good. The fashion industry itself has become as much about lifestyles as it is about clothes e.g. directional
fashion retailers nowadays offer so much more than clothing. The body of student work produced definitely reflected this. The students showed a real depth of understanding of lots of areas of the business as well as the different elements of the creative process. The winning project from Karen was incredibly thorough in its research
and execution. Her marketing approach was incredibly exciting and
contemporary and in my view the project she delivered was pretty much flawless.

In spite of some tough competition her work stood out head and shoulders above everybody else.” Gary Aspden – Global Head of Entertainment Promotions Trend Marketing, Adidas Other awards presented on the night included the “First Word” Journalism
Award which went to Susanne Madsen, London College of Fashion,
the Dalziel & Pow Stand Design Award which went to Ravensbourne College of Art & Communication, the Jon Adam Fashion Portfolio Award which went to Faye Pearce, Edinburgh College of Art and the Textile Award which went to Kelly Allen, Ravensbourne College of Art & Communication.

Q&A WITH JESSE NOY
Please describe the brief which you was working to…It was a self
directed study.
What was your inspiration…Streetwear (Bristol folk, massive skate/bmx
scene-guys rockin their sag! the bumster!), jeans and t-shirts,
menswear, james dean, pimp my ride (when you take something that other people deem to be junk and turn it into something desirable), one-off design, limited edition clothing, also a quote from Patricia Field- ‘good taste is knowing you have bad taste. bad taste is knowing you have good taste.’ All in all what i’m tryin to do is reinvent the jeans and t-shirt look.

Which fabrics do you enjoy working with most and why… Denim and
jersey, i’m used to it! They’re both comfortably commercial.
Who would you note as your key influences…In the design world it would have to be Matirhe and Francois Girbaud – the jeanologists,
and Bernard Willhelm for his excentric masculine style. Friends and family.

The event has become renowned for launching the careers of some of the
most prestigious names in fashion –
what’s next for Jesse Noy… Taking over the world of course! I’ve been given a great opportunity and I am surrounded by some great people who will support me whatever I choose to do. I am still learning so nothing is out of bounds. You’ll just have to wait and see…watch this space baby!!

This article was Kindly supllied by 5050 magazine