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The brainchild of designer and TV presenter Jeff Banks, Graduate Fashion Week is celebrating its 10th year, promoting the best in emerging fashion talent. Sponsored for the last three years by Bhs, this year GFW has become the rather more grand, The Prince's Trust Graduate Fashion Week sponsored by TopShop. From humble beginnings in Islington's Business Design Centre to a spell in a Chinese circus tent on the Southbank, the event has been staged in larger premises in East London for the last three years.
Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Julien Macdonald, Anthony Symonds and Scott Henshall have all launched successful careers, as well as creating indelible memories at Graduate Fashion Week. Scott Henshall, a 1997 graduate with his Made in England collection, remembers his most memorable outfit as a John Smedley ultrabra twinset worn with a faded Union Jack skirt, shoes and handbag topped off with a teacup headband.
Money is always a problem for graduating students and this year sponsorship has been secured with companies as diverse as supermarkets, Paris-based haute couture houses and spray paint manufacturers. Scott was sponsored by Wedgwood, Liberty and Gossard among others, and his show featured models wearing £20,000 worth of Wedgwood's Jasper cameos as well as its teapots on their heads. "Graduate Fashion Week was very important in kick starting my career. I reached the gala final and a rep from Gossard, who had let me use their bras, saw the show," says Scott. After a quick word to Gossard's PR, who asked to meet Scott, he had his own PR by November '97 and presented his first off-schedule show in February '98 during London Fashion Week.
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For those preparing their final collections, Scott Henshall has no pearls of wisdom other than: "The best advice I could give is you can never do enough - sell, sell, sell. You've the opportunity to grab people's attention so don't let yourself down, work hard and don't forget to make your folio as slick as possible. Stalk all the fashion agencies as if you're doing them the favour - believe in yourself. Anything is possible and don't be theatrical just for the sake of it. Your collection must look slick whatever the vibe and you should never do less than seven outfits - it's your couple of minutes, make the most of it!"
Meet some of the students who are preparing to do just that...
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