Ravensbourne scoops top prize second year running at Graduate Fashion Week.

JESSICA AU FROM RAVENSBOURNE PRESENTED THE 2008 RIVER ISLAND GOLD AWARD BY CLAUDIA SCHIFFER, JULIEN MACDONALD, LORRAINE CANDY AND RICHARD BRADBURY

“Tonight exceeded my expectations. The designs that came down the runway were of an incredibly high standard.  Stand-out collections for me were the monochrome pieces from Nabil el Nayal (Manchester School of Art) - incredibly romantic but still with an edge, and of course the winner of the gold award, Jessica Au (Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication), who took a new and fresh approach to menswear in both cut and fabric”.

Claudia Schiffer

L to R: Richard Bradbury, Claudia Schiffer, Jessica Au, Lorraine Candy, Julien Macdonald & Caryn Franklin

Wednesday, 11 June saw the most significant and prestigious prize for Graduate Fashion – The River Island Gold Award – awarded to Jessica Au of Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication!  With a life-changing prize of £20,000, the prize was judged and presented by industry icon Claudia Schiffer, Julien Macdonald, Lorraine Candy Editor in Chief British Elle and Richard Bradbury CBE, CEO River Island.

“In an increasingly competitive market place, we were looking for something that was an inspiration for tomorrow and this is what we found in Jessica’s collection.  It was fresh and energetic and gave us a great new direction for menswear, which is exactly what all the judges felt was needed. The overall standard was extremely high and several of the final collections were viewed as being completely ready to sell.  Jessica’s prints really impressed us and she definitely has a strong future ahead of her.”

Richard Bradbury CBE, CEO, River Island

The judging criteria for the collection, was that it clearly demonstrated exceptional ability in Design, Cut and Construction as well as excellent use of Colour and Fabric.

Last year, the same award was won by another Ravensbourne student Jasper Chadprajong.

Jessica Au

Hosted once again by Caryn Franklin, this year’s Graduate Fashion Week Gala show celebrated its 17^th anniversary and saw a glittering array of fashion luminaries lending their support to the event including Claudia Schiffer, Julien Macdonald, Agyness Deyn, Henry Holland, Erin O’Connor, Pixie Geldof, Nick Grimshaw, Gareth Pugh, Zandra Rhodes, Gok Wan, Mark Heyes, Todd Lynn, Jens Laugesen, Oswald Boateng, Talulah Riley, Scott Henshall, Emma Hill (Mulberry), Michael Hertz and Graham Fidler (Aquascutum), Clare Waight Keller (Pringle), Caryn Franklin, Jeff Banks (president, Graduate Fashion Week), Terry Mansfield CBE (Chairman, Graduate Fashion Week) and Harold Tillman (Chairman, British Fashion Council).

“We felt Jessica’s work was original and refreshing especially for menswear design. She had some clever ideas and was technically skilled, it was the most unusual collection we saw and I thought it would both shoot well and could be made into a commercial collection. Her use of print was clever and her use of textiles was good.”

Lorraine Candy, editor, Elle

Support from the GFW Mentoring Panel will be offered to all Graduate Fashion Week winners.

ZANDRA RHODES CATWALK TEXTILES AWARD

The criteria for this award was to find a directional and innovative collection created through the use of original design in either printed or constructed textiles, which explore the relationship between garment and textile.  Once again Ravensbourne’s Jessica Au beat other aspiring fashion students to secure the top award.

“Jessica’s collection was dramatic and totally wearable.  Her prints had taste and fab scale.  Different techniques but all totally suitable for the commercial collection with a twist.”

Zandra Rhodes

The award was judged by Zandra Rhodes, who selected Jessica Au from Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication.

Zandra Rhodes, Jessica Au, Caryn Franklin

SOCIETY OF DYERS & COLOURISTS COLOUR AND TEXTILE AWARD

David Saunders, David David and Chris Sargeant, vice-president fashion/design, SDC judged the award and their criteria was to look for students whose work explored the creative and inspired use of colour to achieve a distinctive fashion statement in either printed or constructed textiles.

Again, the top prize in this category was secured by Ravensbourne’s Laura Fauvel.

Chris Sargeant, Laura Fauvel, Caryn Franklin

“Laura skilfully used a wide range of techniques to produce a coherent and strong collection that would look good ‘on the rail’ or the catwalk.”

Chris Sargeant, SDC and David Saunders, David David

Chip Harris, Subject Leader, Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication said:

“We are delighted at our success this year.  Our heartfelt congratulations go to Jessica and Laura.  Also to Ayumi Hirakida for being one of the 10 short-listed finalists for the River Island Gold Medal Award.  This is a major achievement and once more highlights the strength and diversity of our course and students. Very well done to the winners and to all the students that participated in this years GFW event and particularly to Ravensbourne’s Fashion staff team for their hard work.”

Ends

THE MEDIA AND DESIGN AWARD

This award was judged by Vicky Richardson from Blueprint magazine and Matthew Hawker of iD.  The criteria for the award was concept, creativity, research, analysis and realisation across traditional, new media and cross-media projects from Broadcast and Digital media to Print and 3D.

The award was presented to Lesley Schofield, University of Salford.  The Award was presented to Zoe by Mark Heyes, GMTV LK Today and Pixie Geldof.

Pixie Geldof , Lesley Schofield, Mark Heyes, Caryn Franklin

“The judges chose the winner because their work was technically brilliant and they had a great empathy with the subject matter.”

Vicky Richardson, Blueprint and Matthew Hawker, I.D.

STRATEGIC MARKETING AWARD

Judged by Michael Horsham, Creative Director Tomato and Chris Sanderson, The Future Laboratory, the criteria for this award was a business plan indicating the strategic processes undertaken to develop and promote a product to a target audience.

The award was presented to Thomas Hopkins, University of Central Lancashire by Gareth Pugh and Kate Shillingford, Dazed & Confused.

Kate Shillingford, Thomas Hopkins, Gareth Pugh, Caryn Franklin

“Thomas’ project demonstrated a level of concision, clarity and conceptual development that made it a clear winner.”

Michael Horsham, Tomato and Chris Sanderson, The Future Laboratory

CREATIVE MARKETING AWARD

This award was judged by Amanda Lambert, Head of Online O₂ and Nicci Buck, O₂.  The criteria for the award were a marketing plan showing the value of innovation with a creative approach and the development of an innovative output/product and the promotion of such.

This award was presented to Emily Bell from Northumbria University, Fashion Marketing by Henry Holland and Agyness Deyn.

“The concept was based on real customer insight through extensive research with a fantastic creative product and outstanding marketing plan.”

Amanda Lambert, Head of Online o2

Agyness Deyn, Emily Bell, Henry Holland, Caryn Franklin

Dalziel & Pow Stand Design award

This award was judged and presented by Dalziel & Pow’s David Dalziel.  The stand was judged on its overall impact, visual presentation, design quality and content of exhibits.

The award was presented to Northumbria University, Fashion Marketing, which won £1,000 for the College.

“This week the standards are higher than ever before. There are at least six stands that deserve a mention, but Northumbria Fashion Marketing wins it for its wit, accessibility, energy and life, on a modest budget.”

David Dalziel, Dalziel & Pow

David Dalziel, Tracy Turnbull, Caryn Franklin

JON ADAM FASHION PORTFOLIO AWARD

Judged by Jon Adam’s Melanie Laub, this award’s criteria was for a well executed, stylish and professionally presented work, showing individual contemporary style in the chosen medium.

The winner was Poppy Dover from Kingston University and Gary Gold and Melanie Laub of Jon Adam presented her with the award.

“The winner was chosen because we feel they have the potential to be a great international talent, which shone through their entire portfolio.”

Melanie Laub, Jon Adam

Melanie Laub, Poppy Dover, Gary Gold, Caryn Franklin

the national magazine company “First Word” Journalism award

Jennifer Wiebking of UCCA Epsom was selected as the winner of the National Magazine “First Word” Journalism Award.  Her award was presented by Duncan Edwards, CEO National Magazine Company and Lucy Yeomans, Bazaar.

This award was judged by Victoria White, Company and Louise Court, Cosmopolitan.  The criteria for the award were a magazine style piece, either a feature, profile or interview, displaying originality and style to a high journalistic standard.

“The judges chose the winner because they had great research, innovative subject matter and the piece was brilliantly written.”

Victoria White, Company and Louise Court, Cosmopolitan

Lucy Yeomans, Jennifer Wiebking, Duncan Edwards, Caryn Franklin

For images of the winners’ collections on the Gala Show catwalk or for further information, please call Stephanie Churchill Public Relations on

Tel: 020 7298 6530 or e-mail on gfw@scpr-huntsworth.com