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Victoria ButcherWomenswearTel: +44 (0) 7894 059 954E-mail: vickybutcher@aol.comVictoria Butcher is an aspiring designer, specialising in womenswear, who has gained several years of design, manufacturing and pattern cutting experience studying at well-known institutions such as Ravensbourne and The London College of Fashion. She is extremely hardworking and enthusiastic, and challenges herself to push her design talents to the limit experimenting with other pathways within fashion such as menswear and accessories. She has previously worked for Georgia Hardinge and Charnos Lingerie where she gained a hands-on experience of the fashion industry. Victoria has grown to become a skilled creative who loves to experiment with texture and silhouette and this is reflected in her graduate collection. Victoria’s graduate collection has been inspired by the continuation of existence after a possible apocalypse and is entitled ‘Ad Infinitum’ meaning without an end or to infinity. Focusing on the concept that mankind may have to revert back to a primitive state of being and adapt to survive in a desolate landscape that was once a thriving environment, the looks within the collection are inspired by decaying carcasses, a fractured existence and the virginity of a new life cycle. The collection as a whole depicts the fragility of our existence and the purification of mankind through the use of a soft grey colour palette and the combination of soft finishes with a protective shell.  Victoria has created a luxurious feel to her Autumn/Winter collection through quality and hand-made fabrics and her garments are wearable yet distinct.

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Kristina OteloKnitwear 07842022886www.kristinaotelo.comKristina has worked as a design assistant at high street knitwear supplier Intro source and as an intern for Laura Theiss.Kristina’s spring/summer collection is inspired by the song Svefn-g-englar by the Islandic band Sigur Ros. Based on the translation of the title Kristina has entitled her collection “Sleepwalkers”. The research involved looking into northern European nature scenes, natural phenomenon’s, and the unlikely mix of things that you would expect to find in a dream. Kristina has experimented with acetate and inks creating watery layered artwork that resulted in a colour palette of subtle tones of flesh, blush pink and muted green to mention a few. To be able to use the exact colour palette intended for this ethereal collection Kristina used natural dyes to create many of the different colours. Kristina has created finely knitted dresses in cotton and silk and combined it with digitally printed jersey dresses showing monochrome prints through the delicate, sheer fabric. The silhouettes of the knitted dresses are long and simple with a few braided details appearing as a part of the dress. Delicate dropped stitch combinations, tucks and fur effects are some of the techniques used to portray this world of dreams.

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Name: Eloise FodenSpecialism: WomenswearMobile no: 07944990166Website/twitter: www.eloisefoden.com - @eloisefoden  Support: Rubber texture was created in collaboration with Andreea Mandrescu. Achievements: - She helped to organize and designed for a charity fashion show in aid of Breast Cancer UK; the show was attended by Zandra Rhodes and Sir Peter Blake.-Her design was shown at Somerset House as part of the Nick Knight ‘SHOWstudio: Fashion Revolution’ exhibition. -3 month internship at Willow in Sydney, Australia.The inspiration for the collection sparked from a poem that Eloise had written entitled ‘Into the Ink’. The poem is about drowning, falling though water, fading into the abyss below and blending into the unknown.   When picturing being underwater, she couldn’t help but to imagine dance and was particularly intrigued by contemporary dance and the choreography of Mia Michaels. Her choreography is very explosive and expressive, but at the same time the dancers are tremendously light on their feet and appear almost to be flying across the stage. Eloise describes it as “just the most beautiful fusion of hard and soft, which is an idea that I would like to show in my collection”. Similar to that image of blending in to the abyss, a dancer will almost become one with and lose themselves in their music. Eloise created a print to show this idea. Drawing from a close-up image of concrete, almost as if the wearer is becoming one with their surroundings. She also worked in collaboration with Andreaa Mandrescu to create the texture of gravel out of silicon, which as been applied onto the garments as if the wearer is morphing into the architecture.   The collection is entitled ‘Abyss’ evoking that image of a black hole leading to the unknown. Eloise wanted the colour scheme for the collection to embody this image, drawing from quite dusty tones to create the mood of almost a deserted ‘nothingness’.   The idea of fading into the background, blending in and blending together with one another led to the styling of the collection being somewhat tribal, with the models almost coming together as one separate unit.

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Name: Nina Lilli HoldenSpecialism: Knitwear, WomenswearMobile number: 07852520713Email: nina.lilli@live.comWebsite: Ninalilli.comTwitter: @Nina_LilliWork Experience: Craig Lawrence, Topshop and Knit-1 ltd.Nina Lilli Holden is a womenswear designer specialising in knitwear; Her collection investigates the idea of Spiritual Being. Nina researched aspects of spirituality including religious symbols, crystals, and auras, the idea of being aware of your own spiritual being in physical existence. Her collection is very focused on texture; exploring and experimenting with different knit techniques and yarn qualities to create beautiful, original pieces. Nina also creates tie dyed denim garments, giving the collection a grungy aspect. The collection is very contemporary, and wearable, but with a unique aesthetic.  

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 Designer: Jon Mabbott  Contact: jmabbott10@gmail.com,  Mob: 07429 564487 Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/JonMabbott Sponsorships: SagaFurs Work Placements:  Christopher Raeburn (24/01/2011- 28/09/2011) Bronwen Marshall (01/04/2011-01/09/2011“Smarty” By Jon Mabbott“The trick is growing up without growing old”‘Smarty’ is a Menswear Graduate collection inspired by a boys desire to keep his innocence, growing up without growing old. It’s inspired by a man who’s cheeky and upbeat character is clearly portrayed through intense gradual prints, transparency and oversized Fox Fur hoods. A notion of ‘squares’ is echoed throughout each outfit, allowing a consistency to flow as the youth realises he must become a man before the collection is out.  Childhood features are brought forward into this contemporary menswear collection: half elasticated waistbands, drawstrings and plastic poppers allow ease to its young wearer of yester year. Traditional childhood favourites such as Jelly sandals, anoraks and shell suits are all remastered to fit into 2012/2013. The silhouettes are oversized or cropped, reflecting the ill-fitting clothes simply supplied by parents. Practical features such as reversibility: enable the user to interact with their clothes and ultimately their own style. Themes of wartime are constantly relied upon to enable to collection to have a practical and durable purpose, and reflect a boys’ admiration of the forces during childhood.  The collection is made of multiple pieces, allowing the user to interact with the versatility of the garments, and their many different formations. Detachable hoods can be attached to nearly all of the jackets, and whose fur is carried onto the oversized and luxurious accessories. Pigskin bags incorporate elements of the plush white fur: whilst the leathers are echoed in the belts. Both accessories use the transparent clips of school wear bags: again relying upon juvenile elements. The youth must ultimately accept growing into a man: and leave the vibrant innocence of his childhood daydreams.   

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The inspiration for Audrey’s final collection “Brave New World” started off with looking at the difference between how we view ourselves and how we think others view us. Are the people we want to be, the characters that we really are? Historic English royal garments have been explored and referenced as an acute instance of identity and uniform in history. The project explores how we are supposed to wear the uniform and how we want to.Audrey Littman originally studied ballet and modern ballet, which led her to appreciate performance, and gradually develop a stronger interest for the fashion industry through this. Audrey became a designing assistant to Maria Bovin at Peak Performance, which is both an active wear and casual brand. This married her physical interest in fashion. She moved to London to pursue a more pure form of fashion, specialising in menswear. While studying both in Stockholm and London Audrey interned at Mode en Module, Burberry and Minimarket. She also written for the Russian fashion magazine “Fashion Week”, assisted stylist Bella Rune, designed costumes for choreographer Helena Franz’en and styled for Cage and Aviary (DFA records). All of which has helped influence her exploration into the different sides of fashion, but mostly menswear and now womenswear.

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+44 (0) 7534273527Twitter: twitter.com/#!/_JenniferSlaterBlog: jenniferclaireslater.wordpress.comJennifer Claire Slater is a womenswear designer who explores structure and innovative tailored silhouettes, as well as engaging in her love for bespoke and luxury eveningwear. For Jennifer’s current collection her inspiration is derived from her interest in East Asian cultures and the personal attachments, and family connections, she has with this area of the world. Jennifer’s research is stemmed from the celebration of the ‘Mid Autumn festival’, and the legend related to which, of the goddess Chang’e and her companion the Jade Rabbit. The theme expresses the different elements in the story such as the Geishas, samurai warriors and the serenity of Japanese imagery and architecture. From this inspiration, Jennifer recreates the essence of peace and tranquillity of East Asian cultures and showcases them in smooth crisp lines and silhouettes. With a combination of wool blends, duchess satins and silk chiffons in a deep rich colour palette of teal, burgundy and gold shades, a luxury feel is also infused into the collection.Throughout completing her degree, Jennifer has worked for couture label ‘Ralph & Russo’, which has resulted in being offered a place as junior designer. Since starting at the company, Jennifer has worked her way up, from being on the studio floor, gaining skills in manufacturing and pattern cutting, to designing alongside head designer Tamara Ralph. Jennifer is regularly given individual and joint assignments to design dresses for the likes of Beyoncé, as well as provide designs for the collection the company holds in Harrods. She is currently working with the head designer on an interior project for a hotel in Dubai.Jennifer also pushes forward her own label by making clothing for private clients established through website contact; she has created a number of pieces, including wedding dresses. Jennifer hopes that this promising beginning will be the starting point for owning a well-known bespoke brand.Jennifer has already been offered to showcase her collection at Southsea fashion week in August. 

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Gagan Luthra Womenswear 07958493576 Specialising in womenswear, Gagan has had a vast amount of experience in the fashion industry. From working within both the sampling and production teams in the design studios of Marios Schwab to the helping of show production, front of house and general PR duties for Vauxhall Fashion Scouts and Mandi Lennard, Gagan has gained an insight to the lengthy process of what it takes to expand design ideas to a realistic and viable business. Gagan was a finalist in the FAD Fashion Futures 2 2007 competition and has since gone on to use her skills and talents to enhance younger FAD pupils by helping teach both the design and construction processes in the summer schools; Fashion Futures 1. Gagan Luthra’s A/W 2013 collection ‘Where are you wearing your eyes’ delves into the sociological depths of lies and explores how our fabrications are concealed. Through the use of fabric and unusual textures such as hair, garments that may be deemed quite simplistic are masked to look extravagant, embedding the revelation and reflection of one’s true emotion. Her garments have a clean, simple interior but the mass of different textures and layers on the outside can be considered to portray a multitude of complexities and hiding the simple truth. Questioning the theory that people are hiding their individuality behind their mattresses, Gagan wants garments in her collection to be read differently by each individual and help form or build that individuals character and uniqueness.

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Designer: Rupert Valentine.The man wearing Rupert Valentine stands out from the crowd and expresses himself through his clothes.  Rupert’s Autumn/Winter 2013 ‘Retrospectrum’ collection redefines formal menswear, bringing the menswear silhouette of 1960s Britain to the modern era. The ‘slimmed down’ suit is still as relevant today, as it was when modernism influenced everything from style and fashion to architecture and technology. Rupert’s designs take the idea of looking at the future from a past perspective and feature clean, curved and angular lines in combination with a modern slant on the sixties shape. They include a 1960s suit shape, tapered, slim leg and cropped, parallel leg formal trousers, penny collar and point collar box pleat shirts in colourful, geometric prints.  These are complemented by skinny, square bottom ties in optical print woven designs, and silver tiepins produced in collaboration with jewellery designer Emily Maw. Innovative outerwear that experiments with the juxtaposition of luxurious, traditional fabrics and technical materials completes the collection.Inspired by ‘Op artist’ Bridget Riley, Rupert experiments with deconstructed architectural imagery to develop prints that use accents of greens, petrols and aqua-blues within a main palette of tonal greys, charcoals and navies.With an attention to detail and fit, an appreciation of colour, innovative techniques and mixing of fabrics, lines and patterns, plus an insight into the modern man’s psyche, this new designer is set to make a unique contribution to the menswear industry challenging established ideas of how formal menswear should be worn.With thanks to Claire Malcolm, Samir Suddle, James Jee and all the staff at Hardy Amies, Wouter and Amber of Baartman and Siegal, Stephen Nixon of Vanners and staff at Ravensbourne.  Special thanks to Emily Maw, Antonia Ede, Deema Abi-Chahine, Derek D’Monte, Sarah Ratcliffe, Nick Ford, Ravensbourne technicians, photographer Andy Morgan, Wendy and Nigel Taylor, family and friends. The collection is dedicated to Patience Mary Taylor (1924-2011).Contact:     Mobile: 07596767694    Email: rupertvalentinetaylor@gmail.com Website: rupertvalentine.co.uk