Ravensbourne finalists join the Best of Graduate Fashion Week

Five of Ravensbourne’s Department of Fashion students will be joining the esteemed Best of Graduate Fashion Week and Exhibitions Awards Show this afternoon, which closes Graduate Fashion Week — the world's leading event celebrating the creativity of students and graduates working in the fashion industry.

As well as four student finalists named in the Graduate Fashion Week Exhibition Awards, BA (Hons) Fashion student Cristiana Alagna is among 28 others featuring in the Best of Graduate Fashion Week Show — a showcase of the standout talent from all the institutions exhibiting at the catwalks shows which take place throughout the week. This puts her in the running for the coveted Graduate Fashion Week Catwalk Awards, which include The Conscious Design Award sponsored by Swarovski and the Christopher Bailey Collection of the Year Award.

Her collection, ‘/Error 404/’ originates from the idea of a mistake, incorporating the unintended ‘to create a dream-like illusion, deceiving the eye, and leaving to the viewer the job of seeing what he or she wants in the garments’.

Among the students finalists in the Exhibition Awards Show, Irene Jia, BA (Hons) Fashion Accessory and Textile Futures student was selected for the Accessories Award Sponsored by YKK. Her accessories collection takes influence from biomimicry — a process of imitating nature in the design of materials, structures, and systems.

The Considered Design Award Powered by Farfetch named BA (Hons) Fashion Buying and Brand Management student Jainelly Portocarrero Torres a finalist for her sustainable womenswear brand ‘Re-up’ which aims to slow down fast fashion by providing upcycling services for consumers to refresh their garments and reduce landfill.

Jade Sullivan, also from BA (Hons) Fashion Buying and Brand Management was selected for the New Fashion Media Award for ‘SUSS’, an app which aims to ‘educate and inform consumers about sustainable fashion and the transparency of some of the industry’s cleanest brands.’

BA (Hons) Fashion Promotion student Sofi Chetrar was named a finalist in the Fashion Styling and Creative Direction Award Sponsored by Size? for her ‘Nostalgiya’ brand. Having noticed the volume of second-hand clothing discarded on a visit to the Republic of Moldova, a country closely linked to her heritage, Sofi created a brand which would respond to the issue of over-consumption in today’s fashion industry by extending the life cycle of discarded garments and in turn provide a homage to the country’s past and history as part of the Soviet Union.

Commenting, Cristiana said: "When you get to this moment after working on a collection for nine months I think what matters is not whether you get selected but whether your work resonates with the people watching. That is what I work and live for — that moment when the audience becomes an accomplice because they can see your message clearly and they respond to it."

Lee Lapthorne, Programme Director for the Department of Fashion added: “Our students have shown considerable expertise and creativity within their portfolios showcased during Graduate Fashion Week — delivering projects which demonstrate they are ready to enter the industry and help shape its future. Congratulations to all those selected for tonight’s show, it is a very well deserved recognition of their hard work, commitment and creativity.”

Attracting around 30,000 guests each year, Graduate Fashion Week showcases the work of students from over 40 universities from around the world at their stands and an exciting schedule of catwalk shows. Find out more at Graduate Fashion Week.