BFA colleges council winners 2009

It is all about fashion awards this week, after the Young Designer of the Year Award, Mango Fashion Awards and Queen’s Awards, the British Fashion Council (BFC) announced the 2009 winners of the BFC colleges council graduate preview day. The Royal College of Art won Best Portfolio on Overall Presentation’, and Edinburgh College of Art won ‘Best Portfolio for Fashion Illustrator’ – a new award at this event.

London College of Fashion and Kingston University were highly commended. The inaugural ‘WGSN Digital Presentation Award’, which recognises the increasing relevance of this medium, went to the University of Salford. The awards ceremony took place at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) building, on Tuesday 28th April 2009. The 27 exhibiting colleges by a specialist panel including Anne Tyrrell, BFC Colleges Council Chair, Gary Edgley menswear buyer for Selfridges, Ed Burstell, buying director for Liberty, and designer Todd Lynn.

The BFC’s Colleges Council Graduate Preview Day is organised by the British Fashion Council to foster relationships between graduates and the industry. A wide range of retailers, manufacturers and design companies spent the day talking to course leaders, reviewing portfolios and making a note of students they are interested in working with as they enter the job market, post graduation this summer. Attendees included organisations such as Selfridges, Browns, Warehouse, Boden, Bellville Sassoon, John Lewis, Feathers, Liberty of London, Issa, Stephen Jones, Orla Kiely and Hannah Marshall as well as representatives from the media.