Art school students have designs on success at top London event

Talented art school graduates from the University of Wolverhampton have designs on success at the New Designers (ND) event in London.

The ND event showcases over 3,000 of the most promising graduate talents from Britain’s leading design courses. The show features everything from illustration to animation, furniture to fashion, and gaming to glass and takes place at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London.

Graduates from the Wolverhampton School of Art’s Fashion & Textiles, Applied Arts - Glass & Ceramics and Visual Communications - Graphic Design & Illustration BA (Hons) degree courses exhibited a selection of their work at the annual three week event.

Su Fahy, Principal Lecturer Employability at the Wolverhampton School of Art (Est. 1851), said: “Students have excelled themselves this year with the highly professional presentation of their work at New Designers.

“Having our students represented at such a prestigious annual event really puts Wolverhampton on the map for its art and design provision and visitors from colleges around the country praised the quality of the work for all course disciplines, saying that the displays reflected excellent teaching, resources and innovation which would encourage them to signpost their students to study in Wolverhampton.”

Focus on Fashion Design

Toni Louise Magee, 27 from Burntwood, Staffordshire, is studying for a Fashion & Textiles Degree and has focused her work on fashion design.

She said:  “Last year fashion students worked together on a collection which was shown at Clothes Show live at the National Exhibition Centre and this gave me the confidence to exhibit at New Designers.  It was such a great experience to showcase my graduate collection in a big city to people from the fashion industry as well as members of the public.

“The course has meant so much to me. My main goal for returning to education was to finally complete my degree in fashion – I wasn’t really expecting to ignite my passion for designing again but this course has motivated me in that direction.  It has also opened my eyes to other areas of the fashion industry such as ethics, technology and the impact fashion has on the environment.”

Toni’s graduate collection, ‘Hybrid Influence’, explores the concept of combining structures with delicate elements.  Using a chain-link fence as her inspiration, she created an evening wear collection made from 100% silk, incorporating metal into the garments as a contrast to the delicate material.

She said: “The course has also helped my confidence greatly and the great support from the tutors and technicians has helped me to achieve the best of my abilities.”

Toni has recently been accepted onto the University’s SPEED programme which aims to help create new businesses in the West Midlands.  Having run her own business for three years designing and making purses and clutch-bags which she sells worldwide, she now plans to use the help and support from the SPEED programme to concentrate on rebranding, packaging and marketing her products more widely – as well using the skills she has learned on her degree by expanding the business and creating her own fashion collection of evening and occasion wear.

Check out Toni Louise Accessories on Etsy and follow her on Instagram.

Former Applied Arts degree student, Naomi Jacques, also exhibited at ND.

ENDS

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Date Issued:  5^th July 2017