Graduates showcase work at Alternative Fashion Week
Kelly Ashworth, Claire Madelin, Ellie Savage and Stephanie Tsang are the exceptionally talented BA (Hons) Fashion 2006/07 graduates — from The University of Northampton — who will showcase their work at Alternative Fashion Week (in London) this month.

The week (which runs from 21 – 25 April, 2008 and is organised by Alternative Arts) is held in Spitalfields Traders Market, were more than 60 designers have the opportunity to be discovered.

Emerging designers like Stephanie Tsang, who is excited to be exhibiting her Futureform collection at AFW and is also celebrating landing a new job at prestigious fashion brand Mulberry. She says: “It’s thrilling to have been selected from the hundreds that applied to show at AFW.  I’m really looking forward to my show on Monday 21st April. Since graduating it’s been a very successful year for me and landing a job at Mulberry is the icing on the cake!”
 
Alternative Fashion Week brings out the most original and creative collections. It provides a genuine alternative for truly innovative designers to present their work directly to the press, public and fashion industry.
 
Admission to the event is free with collections for the AIDS charity, The Terence Higgins Trust.
 
Visit: The University of Northampton | Royal and Derngate | Alternative Fashion Week

Nottingham Trent Graduates to exhibit at the 13th Biennale of Young Artists in Italy
The 22nd-31st of May 2008, will mark the date of a remarkable achievement for four graduates from Nottingham Trent University’s School of Art and Design.

Terri Cohen (BA Fashion Design) Laura McCafferty (BA Decorative Arts) Michael Pinchbeck (MA Performance and Live Art) and Rosie Pickles (BA Fine Art); will be among the first British artists ever to exhibit their work at Italy's Biennale exhibition. The quartet have been invited to attend the 13th Biennale of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean (BJCEM) in Puglia, Southern Italy.
 
The Biennale, is regarded as a window to the continent’s finest young art and design talent, and aims to promote artists’ creativity and strengthen cultural links among participating nations. The four graduates will join almost 1,000 young artists from more than 20 countries for the event, which will feature work from a variety of fields including painting, sculpture, fashion, architecture, cinema, photography, writing, theatre and dance.

The Executive Director for Arts Council England, East Midlands, Laura Dyer, said: “Arts Council England, East Midlands, is delighted to be the first English region to be represented in the Biennale, and proud that such talented young artists have emerged from our region.“ She added: "Each of these universities makes a considerable contribution to the cultural footprint of the region. They are powerful investors in the arts and major players in cultural provision and development in the East Midlands. They are central to creating the region’s arts workforce and supporting high-quality arts opportunities. I look forward to the day when we welcome the Biennale to the UK.”
 
The Nottingham Trent University graduates will be joined by representatives from Loughborough University, De Montfort University and Derby University.

Visit: The Nottingham Trent University| Biennale

Chris Taylor named Winner of International Bag Competition
BA (Hons) Fashion Year 3 student Chris Taylor, has taken recycling to new heights through his winning menswear bag design, that has earned him a trip to Hong Kong.

From the 31st of March to the 2nd of April 2008, Taylor will travel to Hong Kong to collect his prize for winning the annual Design-A-Bag international competition from Fashion Access, the largest worldwide trade fair for handbags, travelware, footwear, leather garments and fashion accessories.
 
Taylor has scooped the prize as winner in the category, ‘The Male Bag, Design’. The Design-A-Bag competition is open to all designers and design students from across the world with judging conducted online.
 
Chris commented: “Winning this competition is a great opportunity for me to grow as a fashion designer. Travelling to Hong Kong is an amazing experience and I hope to gain a lot from it.”
 
Chris’s success follows that of current University of Northampton Year 3 BA (Hons) Fashion student Catherine Nevill who also won an award at the Fair in 2007.
 
Fashion Access is part of the world’s premier international leather, materials and components exhibition, the Asia Pacific Leather Fair (APLF), where The University of Northampton will take part for the 18th annual year.

Chris will pick-up his award at the ceremony in Hong Kong on the 1st of April.
 
Visit: APLF | Northampton University’s Graduate Fashion

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