The Access Group launches workwear design competition

The Access Group, which provides business management software to small and mid-sized organisations, has launched a workwear design competition with Loughborough University.

The competition forms part of the fashion design and technology students' first-year degree course and challenges them to design a new capsule workwear wardrobe that encapsulates a business's ethos, while also ensuring it suits hybrid working.

The competition will span 12 months and the students will work through three stages of the project - designing the collection, creating one complete workwear outfit, and then revealing the design in a catwalk show early next year.

The first stage of the competition closes in May and tasks the students to design a collection that includes up to 10 garments of their choice, including up to five complete outfits. In addition to this, the collection must include one workwear T-shirt featuring The Access Group logo. They must showcase their knowledge of the history of workwear, the inspiration behind the designs and technical drawings to support this.

At the end of the project, one winner will be chosen, and their design will be created and made available for purchase at the Access Wear employee store. All proceeds of this will go towards the Access Charity of the Year.

Tete Soto, chief marketing officer at The Access Group, said in a statement: “We’re excited to be launching this competition with the students at Loughborough University. We are a Loughborough business, proud to see the wealth of talent that comes out of the university every year.

“At The Access Group, we recognise that workwear has evolved over the last few years and needs to represent the growing diversity in our workforce and new styles of working—whether that’s from the office or from home. It’s important to us that workwear offers an option suitable for everyone and we can’t wait to see how the designs from these incredibly talented students fit the brief.”

Jenny Prendergast Fhea, programme leader for fashion design and technology at Loughborough University, added: “The opportunity to collaborate on a creative project with a local business like The Access Group is fantastic for our students and integral to their learning and development on the course. It also gives them the opportunity to experience what working with a large corporation could be like and develop their employability skills.

“The brief will allow the students to bring their own unique style to the designs while ensuring that the collections are suitable for all working styles. We are looking forward to seeing the creations our students come up with and would like to extend our thanks to The Access Group for choosing to work with us on this project.”

The Access Group added that the competition brief will also be rolled out with fashion design students in its other key markets, including Romania, Australia, the US and Malaysia.