Creative Skillset launches Student Design Award

Creative Skillset, the industry skills body for the creative industries, has announced that it has set up the Anne Tyrrell Student Design Award, in memory of the fashion and interior designer to support students in the second year of their Creative Skillset ticked fashion courses.

Her career spanned more than fifty years in fashion and design, starting off by studying Art and Design at the Norwich School of Art, then fashion at the Royal College of Art, before beginning work as a pattern cutter, ultimately becoming director of design at clothing supplier John Marks where she worked between 1963 and 1984 and where she first developed her own collection.

Tyrrell was also co-chair of Creative Skillet’s fashion industry panel and the driver behind expanding the long established Creative Skillset Tick into fashion. The Tick is a mark of quality awarded by industry professionals to those courses that provide the best preparation for a career in the creative industries.

Commenting on the award, fashion designer Betty Jackson who is a member of the Creative Skillset Board and was also a close friend of Tyrrell said: “Anne’s passion for industry-led education in fashion and sheer zest to make things happen are embodied in this award in her memory.

“More than anyone else, Anne drove the Creative Skillset Tick into the fashion sector, taking the industry and education world with her. It’s fitting that these awards will support the next generation entrants into this world of fashion.”

The Creative Skillset tick was awarded to a small selection of fashion courses in 2014, including the BA (Hons) Fashion Design courses at Birmingham City University, Kingston University, Manchester School of Art, University of Huddersfield, University of Westminster, and Nottingham Trent University’s BA (Hons) Fashion Knitwear Design and Knitted Textiles course.

Four more BA (Hons) fashion courses have been accredited with the Creative Skillset tick this month, the Arts University of Bournemouth, University of the West of England, University of Salford and Norwich University of the Arts.