Students from universities across the Midlands including Nottingham, Derby and Leicester showcased innovative solutions to some of fashion’s biggest environmental challenges at last night’s prestigious fashion awards ceremony, Fashanne – Fashion Designers of the Future.
Set in the historical home of the textile, lace, shoe, silk and knitwear industries, this awards ceremony celebrates the talent of the next generation. Now in it’s fifth year, over 500 students have participated in the awards since its first show at Belvior Castle but last night was one of its biggest shows yet. Themed Earth, the show had a zero- waste approach to everything including locally sourced cocktails, 100% plant-based canapes and a living plant wall but the highlight was the student collections that took to the runway.
Collections addressed some of fashion’s biggest challenges around material sourcing, water consumption, climate change, and fast fashion.
Designer Luoyuan Zhang from Nottingham Trent University and winner of the ASBCI Innovation Award Based his concept design on ‘respect for ecology and nature’ with his collection fusing nature and craftmanship allowing the raw materials to speak for themselves. Ethical considerations also played a huge role in his collections, growing his own silkworms over two months to raise awareness on the often-overlooked cruelty of the silk making process
Designer Harriet Fletcher-Gilhuys, also from Nottingham Trent University and winner of the Sustainability Award, took inspiration from Fibershed, a non-profit organisation based in California, that that develops regional and land regenerating natural fibre and dye systems. With hubs around the world, the aim is to generate permanent systems of localised fibre and natural dye production.
The film that opened the show, set the scene for what was to come, an evening looking to the future and with a generation to fighting to keep the planet alive – link to the video below:
https://wetransfer.com/downloads/3ddcec1c2693f7e2204534a6792483d320230621124700/458da41b8f7ceb1107774c6d69114a2c20230621124731/a9b863
Posted on 23 June 2023
