 | | Jessica won 'best individual collection' |
Naturally, Jessica is on cloud nine: "I really wasn't prepared for this," she said. "I was miked up for MTV Style on the day and kept saying 'I'm not going to win this competition, I've no chance' because the standard of work by other students was so high and the girls and boys I was up against were amazing." But it was Jess's collection based on the blue jeans and white T-shirt look which grabbed the judges' attention on the critical day. "I was trying to reinvent that look because it's been done so many times and it's a really safe look that everybody goes for and I'm trying to put an edge on it." The blue jeans designs are 'street wear' reflecting the essence of trends seen on skaters and BMX bikers. "You know the look where the jeans are so baggy you can see their boxer shorts? I did a pair where the shorts were part of the jeans," she said. Jessica made all the tops and a jumpsuit from T-shirts. Her strength lies in her ability to recycle and reinvent existing clothing but when it came to designing the jeans, they were made from scratch. She used shirts her twin brother donated to line the pockets and go round the turn-ups.
 | | Jessica recycles existing clothes |
"I've always made own clothes since as early as I can remember, probably about age seven. This is my life. I live, sleep and eat it. There's just something about me that makes me want to be different, but I never expected it to go this way. It's huge," she said. Among the top names at the event were the director of YSL, editor of Vogue and designer Sophia Kokosalaki. "Sophia said my collection was really fresh," smiled Jess. "It feels like a whirlwind and I need to sit down and take a breath." Although this is definitely the biggest thing to happen to Jessica so far, she had already won one high profile competition to get a placement with River Island. The chain challenged students to customise a plain leather bag. Jessica's tutor at Bower Ashton asked who in the year was the best at customising and her peers agreed she was. "I took it apart and turned it into a bum bag like a buoyancy aid as we had to reflect one of the current fashion trends," she said before proudly adding: "My stuff is in the window of Oxford Street now."
 | | Jessica turned the bag into a bum bag |
Jessica is half Dutch and hopes to go to Holland to work on her denim designs but she says she'd also love to work for a haute couture designer and with the prestige that comes from winning the Graduate Fashion Week award, the world of fashion is about to become her oyster. Also graduating from Bower Ashton in Fashion and Textile BA Hons are Jessica's peers, Amy Hodgkinson, Rachel Murt and Becky Hill. Amy's collection features fair trade materials and organic or recycled fibres. She hopes to work for a fair trade organisation but creating garments for the designer market. "I don't like that our enjoyment of clothes is at other people's expense so this is the first time I've really felt happy about fashion," she said. Among the materials used to dye her fabrics, Amy used onion skins, coffee and blackberries. "I made trip after trip to the supermarket to buy tins of blackberries as they were out of season and I kept needing more. It was all very strange," she said. Amy's work has been featured in The Express where her designs and choice of using fairly traded materials were well received.
 | | Jess' collection is based on blue jeans |
Becky Hill took inspiration for her final collection from the clothing of Mongolian nomads focusing on the cut and creation of interesting shapes using leather, herringbone wool and pinstripes. She says the schedule for the final shows has been a hectic adrenaline rush. "The Bristol show had a wicked atmosphere with all our friends and family there to big us up whereas the London show was all about the industry with big names from the world of fashion waiting to be impressed." "It was an amazing experience. The changes of clothing were so quick and we were watching backstage on the monitors. Watching professional models walking down the catwalk was a really good feeling." Becky intends to move to London to do an MA in fashion as soon as she can to pursue a career in fashion. Rachel Murt's brightly-coloured knitwear jumps out of the sketchbook with a vivacity all its own. "I like to combine machine knitting with crochet which is all hand done to get a good finish. I love bright colours and surface decoration," she explained. "I'd like to think my clothes are the kind of thing you could wear during the day but also go out at night in." Rachel cites Christian Lacroix as one of her fashion heroes for his use of colour but she also loves the quirkiness of Antoni and Alison's knitwear and hopes to break into that market. Check out the link at the top right of this page to see some pieces from the graduates' final collections. | 
