Graduate Fashion Week to show at LFW

Graduate Fashion Week is to present for the first time at London Fashion Week within the British Fashion Council’s Positive Fashion Exhibition with a ‘GFW Presents…’ stand.

The stand, designed by the Graduate Fashion Foundation, will highlight the work of four Graduate Fashion Week 2019 alumni, who’s collections were part of the Best of GFW Top 28 Collection show in June.

The aim is to help these graduates a platform to launch their brands to a global audience, as well as give them access to buyers and press, to build a network of future contacts.

GFW Presents… will be showcasing graduates who sit within the British Fashion Council’s Positive Fashion initiative, which has been designed to champion industry best practice led by three Positive Fashion pillars: Sustainability, Equality and Diversity, Craftsmanship and Community.

Graduates taking part in the showcase includes knitwear designer Hannah Stote, graduate of Bath Spa University, who won the GFW19 Catwalk Knitwear Award for her collection inspired by the folklore and symbolism of 18th-century fisherman's jumpers.

Alongside her will be De Montfort University graduate Mariah Esa, who was named the GFW19 SHEIN People’s Choice Award for her collection of four outfits using over 20,000 waste garment labels which were going to be thrown away by a fashion manufacturer, and textile and womenswear designer Sally Mankee, a graduate of University of Creative Arts Rochester, whose work celebrates a bygone era, combining mementos with illustrations to create her signature quirky playful style to produce fabrics full of charm and rich in narrative.

The final emerging designer taking part is Estonia-born designer Janislav Solovjov, a graduate of Arts University Bournemouth, and his fashion label ÖÖ, which combines sustainable technologies in garment engineering and manufacturing, natural fabrics and Estonian heritage.

The GFW Presents… stand will showcase from September 13 to 17 during London Fashion Week.