Lauren Smith wins GFW George Gold Award

This year’s four-day Graduate Fashion Week came to a close last night with its annual Gala showcase of the best in graduate fashion, as the winner of the coveted Gold Award sponsored by George was awarded to Edinburgh College of Art’s

Lauren Smith.

Judged by fashion designer Roland Mouret, George’s brand director Fiona Lambert, and David Walker-Smith from Fenwick, they named Smith as the standout graduate designer for her “emotional collection” of contemporary prints featuring oversized paper clips and 1950’s Japanese silhouettes.

Lambert said: “We chose Lauren as the George Gold Award winner because her designs reflected her character and showed real vision and craftsmanship.”

Walker-Smith added: “What we liked particularly was Lauren’s mind connection through her doodles - you can see it in her leather work, print and appliqué. We could see a very clear thought process throughout the collection, great originality.”

Following in the footsteps of last year’s winner Chloe Jones from Bath Spa University, Smith will receive 20,000 pounds to kick start her career, as well as the chance to work along-side the George team to turn her collection into a limited-edition range for the brand.

Graduate Fashion Week winners announced

There was further success for Edinburgh College of Art as designers Shauni Douglas and Olivia Creber picked up the Menswear Award for their East Asian-inspired collection, which saw the models wearing elaborate moustaches accessories.

The judges, who included model David Gandy and Liberty’s head of buying and merchandising, Stephen Ayres, said: “From concept to catwalk the quality and finish of this collection was of an exceptionally high standard. Shauni and Olivia demonstrated an ability to play with proportion which is most unusual for BA graduates. This collection showed a really strong visual concept and superb craftsmanship, our vote was unanimous!”

The night, which showcased 25 of the best graduate fashion designers from UCA Rochester, Northumbria University, Kingston University, Ravensbourne, Istituto Marangoni, UCLA, Manchester School of Art, Salford University, UCA Epsom, Nottingham Trent, De Montfort, Arts University Bournemouth, and Bath Spa University, also celebrated awards in womenswear, textiles and knit.

The Womenswear Award was given to Hannah Williams from UCA Epsom for her “photogenic, modern and innovative” collection, and Northampton University’s Kirandeep Bassan took home the Zandra Rhodes Catwalk Textile Award for her tropical themed prints, while the Stuart Peters Visionary Knitwear Award was collected by Thea Saunders from Nottingham Trent University for her “Chloe meets Marni” collection.

There was also an award for renowned journalist Suzy Menkes from the International Herald Tribune. The fashion editor was honoured with Graduate Fashion Week's Lifetime Achievement Award by Hilary Alexander in recognition of her services to the fashion industry and her support of young British talent.

The four-day event held at Earl’s Court 2 has showcased the best graduate talent from 40 UK universities as well as 16 international institutes, and has included a programme of talks featuring Victoria Beckham, Nick Knight, Henry Holland and Mary Katrantzou.

Image: George Gold Award winner Lauren Smith, Edinburgh College of Art