Two De Montfort University (DMU) students have scooped knitwear awards at one of the UK’s most prestigious fashion events.
Kelli McGuinness, from Staffordshire, was awarded the top prize and named Knitted Textile Designer of the Year, and fellow student Naomi Lobley, from Lancashire, won the Knitter of the Year award.
The competition, which was judged at the Clothes Show Live at the NEC in Birmingham, was open to thousands of fashion students from universities and colleges around the UK.
In the Knitted Textile Designer of the Year category, Kelli came out on top winning £500 and a trophy for her sculptural knitwear bomber jackets, which used methods such as hand machine knitting, felting, plaiting and weaving. DMU’s fashion department will also receive yarn sponsorship for the award.
The 22-year-old from Tamworth said: “My initial research was into organic nature, looking at how things grow and develop into something else. I expressed this through my design by weaving a variety of knitted textiles into a large form creating an eye-catching and creative garment.
“I feel it is an amazing opportunity as a young designer to show people in the industry my abilities and style. I think winning this award can only help me break my way into the fashion industry by getting my name recognised nationally.”
DMU fashion students Elysia Yeoh, 21, from Malaysia; Jacqueline Tsz-Ying Wong, 23, from Hong Kong; and Charlotte Booty, 21, from North Yorkshire were also shortlisted for the Knitted Textile Designer of the Year award.
For Knitter of the Year, Naomi created designs inspired by vintage movies, celebrating the seductive glamour of screen siren Elizabeth Taylor.
After wowing judges with her designs, Naomi was awarded a hamper full of yarn and knitting accessories to support her studies at DMU.
Other DMU students shortlisted for the award included Alison Woodhouse, 21, from Lancaster, who designed a dress inspired by Elizabeth Taylor’s role as Cleopatra; and Emily Lowsley Williams, 23, from Gloucestershire, who created a knitted dress with the iconic 1950s silhouette.
Della Swain, course leader, said: “It is a fantastic achievement for two of our students to win these prestigious knitwear awards and it demonstrates the diversity of skills learned by the students on the highly distinctive BA (Hons) Fashion Design course at DMU.”
Last year DMU’s Shivani Chavda won Young Designer of the Year at Clothes Show Live, and fellow Fashion Design student Charlotte Christy won the competition in 2008.
To find out more about DMU’s BA (Hons) Fashion Design visit: www.dmu.ac.uk/fashiondesign
Posted on Wednesday 7 December 2011