A Buckinghamshire student whose designs will hit the catwalk in London next month has been offered a job with a Hollywood clothing company.
Sophie Kempner, a third-year fashion design student at Leicester’s De Montfort University (DMU), has been offered the job after she graduates in July by ice-skating fashion firm SEKU Skatewear where she did work experience.
Sophie has used an unusual mixture of animal hide and other unconventional materials to create her innovative sportswear collection, which will appear at Graduate Fashion Week’s 20th anniversary event at Earl’s Court on Monday 6 June.
Her catwalk collection entitled ‘Betty Blue’ includes a silver leather sports jacket adorned with peacock feather, a coat made of foil thermal blankets lined with natural sheepskin, and other pieces which use pig suede, swan feathers, organza, and different types of jersey material to give a sporty edge.
The 20-year-old from Chesham said: “Being a country girl at heart my fashion inspirations come from growing up on a farm surrounded by the countryside in the Chiltern Hills, North West of London. Flinging on my muddy Wellington boots as a child and running down the garden in dresses made by my mother; I can recall all the colours, textures and smells of my surroundings.
“Taking an interest in vintage sportswear my collection is about blending classic features of sportswear with materials that reference our animalistic natural environment.”
Sophie’s talents have already been widely recognised across the fashion industry. In 2009 she scooped first prize at the River Island Recycling Competition when she designed a rain-coat made out of seven umbrellas. Recently the peacock feather jacket from her final-year collection featured in Now magazine’s feature on Graduate Fashion Week.
Sophie was given the chance to showcase her collection at Graduate Fashion Week by a selection panel which gathered on Thursday 5 May to pick the students whose designs will be on the catwalk.
Della Swain, fashion design course leader at DMU, said: “The students have been working extremely hard to finalise their collections for Graduate Fashion Week. This year there is an eclectic mix of collections and we are very proud to be presenting 17 of our students’ work on the catwalk.
“They have all done extremely well to be picked for such a prestigious national event, giving them a fantastic opportunity to showcase their individual talents to top industry names.”
With the support of new title sponsor George at Asda, Graduate Fashion Week will not only be celebrating the work of more than 1,000 fashion design students from 50 universities across the UK and overseas, it will also offer the opportunity for students and graduates to find out about different careers in the industry.
The event always attracts attendance from top fashion industry faces, and this year Fiona Lambert, Creative Director at George, Terry Mansfield CBE, Chairman of Graduate Fashion Week, and Jeff Banks, President of Graduate Fashion Week will be attending the event.
Fiona Lambert said: “Not everyone can be a designer - but if you are fashion savvy and industry aware, you could make a brilliant buyer, merchandiser, or marketeer. There are so many routes in, and so many career paths - with lots of opportunities outside London and throughout the UK. We want to use GFW as an opportunity to open the minds of students to consider the possibilities of working for big brands like George, particularly in this difficult climate. The experience and knowledge you can obtain is invaluable.”
On Monday 6 June students’ designs will appear in the university’s Graduate Fashion Week brochures, with the images shot by high profile fashion photographer Fabrice Lachant whose photos regularly appear in magazines such as Vogue, Harpers Bazaar and Elle.
DMU is also hosting a catwalk show at Freemasons Hall in Covent Garden, London, to showcase contour and contour fashion students’ lingerie, body and sportswear collections on Monday 13 June.
