Leeds School of Arts invited Award winning Yorkshire designers Cunnington & Sanderson with Burberry and Stephanie Smith Style Editor at the Yorkshire Post as industry guest judges for the final years student collections.
Four prizes were awarded by the panel of judges made from key names in the fashion and luxury industry. The prize for most technical went to Lottie Blankstone, for her designs inspired by cultural Judaism, The prize for the Most Creative Collection went to Ali Gohari whose collection covered themes of imperfection and life experience. The prize for the Most Responsibly Designed Collection went to Kiera Tarry for her collection designed entirely from up cycled and sustainable materials, including recycled sports equipment. Ant the prize for the Most Inclusive Collection went to Lori J Briggs, for her commitment to diversity and inclusivity through her designs, recently interviewed on BBC Radio Leeds.
Matthew Cunnington and John Sanderson, co-founders of award-winning Yorkshire brand Cunnington & Sanderson, said: “The RUN graduate show offered a great insight into the future of fashion in Leeds and the North. We were excited to see the unique and innovative talent at Leeds Beckett University and would like to congratulate the four award winners on their outstanding collections.”
Pioneers in Zero-Waste fashion design, Cunnington & Sanderson have designed environmentally friendly garments from the very beginning of their career's. Combining skilled draping and creative pattern cutting to construct innovative and unique silhouettes which avoid unwanted waste of fabric and so do not add to the harmful effects of landfill.
Award winning luxury brand Cunnington & Sanderson proudly present their Zero Waste Draping workshop which creates non gender, timeless, and sustainable fashion design to numerous Universities including Nottingham Trent University, Sheffield Hallam, H.E.A.D. Geneva, University of Leeds, Chester and Leeds Arts University. The sustainably focussed workshop provides the students with a wide range of syllabus skills. Currently offered to students on the BA and Ma Fashion Design, Pattern Cutting, and Knitwear courses, the one day workshop enables all of the students to successfully learn about sustainable practices, zero waste draping, design development, contextualising their practice, innovative pattern cutting, 1st draft pattern making, sewing a full scale toile of the students individual & unique design. These methods and techniques provided by Cunnington & Sanderson can then be taken forward by the students towards their future studies.
Cunnington & Sanderson Zero Waste Workshop - @no_wasted_jam
Shown as part of Leeds Year of Culture 2023 Leeds Beckett University selected a group of 15 models for the runway, five women, four men, three non-binary, and three size 14-16 models. Of the 15 models, five chosen were people of colour.
Sam Hudson-Miles, Course Director for Fashion at Leeds Beckett University, said: “We made the decision not to use a professional model agency and, instead, to cast the models ourselves, as we wanted to celebrate the diversity, and beauty, of ‘real people’ in Leeds. This aligns with the LEEDS 2023 mission statement. “We are incredibly proud of our final year students and the high standard of work they’ve shown. The RUN graduate fashion show was a key opportunity for them to meet key names in the industry and build their network, as they work to develop successful careers in fashion.
RUN is an exciting line-up of events overseen by internationally acclaimed Yorkshire designer, and Leeds Beckett University Professor, Matty Bovan. RUN is a fashion-first for the city which opened with a photoshoot takeover of Trinity Leeds and saw Professor Matty Bovan present his inaugural performance.
To find out more about studying fashion at Leeds Beckett University visit Leeds Beckett University website
Watch the Leeds Beckett Fashion Show on Youtube