ECA triumphant at Fashion Week

Edinburgh College of Art swept the board last night at Graduate Fashion Week, one of the fashion world’s biggest events, with students winning several top awards including best menswear and best overall collection.

Photo of Lauren Smith among her models at Graduate Fashion week. — Lauren Smith won the George Gold Award for best collection.

A career-launching win

Lauren Smith was the night’s big winner at the glittering ceremony in London, walking away with the George Gold Award for best collection. Her outfits are inspired by unfinished sketches and doodles in artists’ notebooks.

In winning the award Smith receives £20,000 to kick start her career and a chance to work along-side the George team to turn her collection into a limited edition range sold in store and online.

Winning is a total shock. I’m completely overwhelmed and flattered to win such a prestigious award. I’m so glad to have ECA behind me and be able to show off what the fashion course can do. Winning just shows the excellence of the staff’s teaching and support. I’m really proud and can’t wait to come home to Scotland and celebrate.
Lauren Smith
Fourth-year fashion student

"Unanimous choice"

In presenting the award George Brand Director Fiona Lambert said Lauren was the "absolutely unanimous choice".

On Smith’s collection, French fashion designer and one of the judges Roland Mouret said, "her collection was emotional and meeting her in person, she reflected herself in her work.”

More success

ECA also won the Menswear Award as fashion student Shauni Douglas and jewellery student Olivia Creber triumphed with their collaboration.

Inspired by the urban horse-riders of inner-city Philadelphia, fusing hip-hop street wear with jockey outfits, their collection was praised for its use of techniques and themes.

Fashion student Morwenna Darwell also achieved second place for the David Band Textile Award.

Graduate Fashion Week

Graduate Fashion Week is the world’s leading event for fashion graduates and has launched the careers of Stella McCartney, Julien Macdonald and Christopher Bailey.

Showcasing the work of over 1,000 graduates from some of the most influential UK and international universities, Graduate Fashion Week is the biggest platform for upcoming creative design talent.

Attracting over 20,000 guests each June, the event features 22 catwalk shows, a large exhibition from over 40 universities and an acclaimed Gala Award Show.

One of the UK's top departments

The students’ success at Graduate Fashion Week has significantly raised the profile of fashion at Edinburgh College of Art.

We are so proud of our students and the whole fashion department. They all deserve this. This success shows that ECA is becoming a major player in the industry. We produce consistently excellent students and the fashion world is noticing. Winning at Graduate Fashion Week reflects the quality of our staff and the students we attract.
Mal Burkinshaw
Fashion programme director

Photo courtesy of catwalking.com