After the craziness of the last few weeks- or more likely months- has subsided for our Graduates, we’ve had time to reflect on the outstanding turnout of this year’s 25th Anniversary Graduate Fashion Week. With over 100,000 Graduates having graced the infamous catwalk in the last 25 years of GFW, this year certainly lived up to it’s history.
This year proved to be bigger, brighter, and even more innovative than ever before. The students pushed boundaries in all areas of the industry, boasting avant-garde portfolios, contemporary publications, and immaculate designs. Of course it wasn’t just us that thought so. Huge industry influencers such as Daniel Lismore, Julien Macdonald, Gemma Metherington and Gok Wan were blown away by the skill and craftsmanship of every University featured, and even sharing their infinite wisdom at the GFW ASOS Talk Space.
Despite the success of the entire event, our highlight couldn’t help being the Graduate Fashion Week 25th Anniversary Gala Awards Show, attended by none other than GFW Lifetime Patrons, the incredible Christopher Bailey and fashion industry legend, Dame Vivienne Westwood. The crowd sat in bated breath watching every slight of her hand, waiting for her seal of approval (at one point she gave a standing ovation!). Hazel Symons from De Montfort University took home the coveted Gold Award, well deserved for her ground breaking craftsmanship, defying traditional means of material construction.
We’d like to thank each and every one of you for constantly making Graduate Fashion Week an industry-defying event, bringing together the old and the young, the fresh and the wise. It is this collaboration of ideas and advice that continues to build young Graduate’s careers, marking it as the respected event that it is after a wonderful 25 years.