Westminster graduates from the Fashion Design BA course have featured their collections at Marylebone Campus on 9 June as part of London Fashion Week 2023.
Being one of the Westminster Degree Shows 2023 offering, the course showcased the works of 14 students, previously selected by an industry panel that included Caryn Franklin MBE, Member of Fashion Academics Creating Equality (FACE), and Steven Stokey Daley, alumnus of the Fashion Design BA course and winner of the 2022 LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers, who was joined at the show by Sarah Mower, Vogue.com's Chief Critic.
This year’s graduates explored Afrofuturism, tactile jazz inspired knits, the 1960s French new wave, opulent Iranian layering, 1940’s hop pickers, the paintings of Richard Smith, Polish folk costume and sculptural 3D printed prosthetics, among other collections on show.
Talking about the student designs, Robert Leach, Senior Lecturer at the Fashion Design BA course, said: “Each collection was hugely well-received, with the show being highly-lauded in numerous press articles, particularly for its creativity and execution paired with a sense of desirability, commerciality and luxury.”
The students displaying their designs included Nothando Ngwawaira, Crow Main, Mae Donohoe, Lottie Robinson, Victoria Olejniczak, Grace Tayo, Ella Dexter, Eliza Douglas, Sam Donnelly-Boote, Anna Rokusfalvy, Zachary Shaw, Nully Amiri, Nancy Stewart, and Soma Faitanin.
On the same week, the graduate menswear collection of Nothando Ngwawaira, titled Afrofuturism, has also won the FACE Excellence Prize 2023. The award is in collaboration with the Graduate Fashion Foundation, a national industry platform for Fashion graduates, created for non-white creatives by FACE, celebrating style, creativity and quality.
Reflecting on the Fashion Week and the Prize, Nothando said: “The Fashion Week was a surreal experience, given the fact that I was very anxious about the event. I honestly enjoyed seeing my clothes on the models and on the runway, and the energy backstage; it was one of the Top 5 moments in my life. Winning the FACE Prize was equally amazing. It is my first ever prize in a field that I love, so that makes it even more special. I enjoyed showing my portfolio on the topic of Afro-Futurism and elaborating on my cultural research and development process. I really appreciate that the judges liked my ideas and approach towards my final collection.”
Talking about the FACE Prize and the Westminster Fashion curriculum, Rosie Wallin, Course Leader of the Fashion Design BA course, said: “As a course, we are committed to diversity, and as members of FACE, to carry our commitment through into our teaching and curriculum. We support and encourage students from all backgrounds to study with us and take their place in the fashion industry. Our students are ambitious and highly skilled, and we are thrilled to be part of a long-needed change in the industry as it begins to reflect our society more fairly.
“In the last few years, the course has benefitted from both teaching and input from designers and academics such as Priya Ahluwalia, Nicholas Daly, Feben, A Sai Ta and Ezinma Mbeledogu. We have taken seriously the need to build in diversity in the ways that fashion design is taught, from decolonising the curriculum to employing a more diverse teaching staff. Nothando is a fantastic student, that is why we chose to open this year’s press show with her impressive use of knit, colour, texture and cut. The whole team is thrilled for her well-deserved success.”
Learn more about the Fashion Design BA 2023 graduate collections at the British Fashion Council’s website.
Find out more and apply for the Fashion Design BA Honours course at the University of Westminster.
