A GRADUATE has seen off competition from design students around the globe to win a renowned fashion competition.
Lucy Saunders from Bosham, near Chichester, triumphed over entrants from 21 fashion schools in the UK, Mexico and Australia to win the MTV Meets Fashion Competition.
The 24-year-old, who graduated from Kingston School of Art last summer, designed the winning collection for fashion retailer River Island.
She was also lucky enough to have her eight-piece River Island clothing collection showcased online at the close of London Fashion Week, accompanied by an exclusive performance by pop star Griff.
Lucy said she was speechless when she won the prestigious competition.
She said: “I’m thrilled to see my clothes in River Island with my name on them, and it’s so exciting that people will be buying and wearing them.
“That is the best part of being a designer – seeing your work on people and hopefully making them feel good."
Lucy used old spinnaker sails from her parents’ boats as the inspiration for her original catwalk creations.
Her designs included vibrant jumpsuits, billowing sail skirts and hoodies with islet details and ropes to secure them.
Lucy said the pieces could be dressed up or down and were adjustable so they could be worn in different ways.
She said: “I looked at all the details in my catwalk pieces, for example the islets, zigzag stitching and colour blocking, and created a more relaxed clothing line that I thought River Island customers would want to wear.
“There are hoodies paired with colour-blocked joggers, cycling shorts with graphic prints and unisex T-shirts, all sustainably produced with organic cotton and prints that are screen printed.”
The encouragement of her course tutors saw Lucy get involved in the MTV competition, which was announced a year ago, with an entry based on the portfolio she produced for the final year of her course.
Lucy said: “I developed garments in line with the MTV brand, which is bold, fun and exciting, while the competition also asked entrants to create pieces with sustainability, size inclusivity and gender neutrality in mind, which are all also important considerations for me as a designer,”
David Frizzell, a course leader for fashion programme at Kingston University said Lucy’s success was much deserved.
He said: “As well as working very creatively with the MTV logo, Lucy embraced relevant issues and was focused on using repurposed and recycled fabrics, which is something we emphasise at Kingston School of Art as part of a responsible design context.”
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