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UEL fashion student makes it through to final at Fashion Awareness Direct

Monday 18 February 2013

FAD

UEL fashion student makes it through to final at Fashion Awareness Direct

Students are set to storm London Fashion Week as the crème de la crème of the budding fashion designer world show off their cutting edge collections to the public.

Final year UEL student, Estela Nevinskaite, (Fashion Design) will be showcasing her designs to a worldwide stage in the Fashion Awareness Direct (FAD) Competition. The competition, which is in its 12th year, is designed to promote young designers at the earliest stage of their careers.

Estela will compete against amongst 14 other undergraduate fashion students from colleges and universities around the UK. The coveted prize includes funding and industry placements with past FAD finalists having successfully gone on to work for companies such as Vivienne Westwood, Hussein Chalayan, Burberry, Aquascutum, Jean Paul Gaultier, Coast and All Saints. 

Described by Vogue Magazine as an "undeniable springboard", the FAD is considered a “must enter” competition for universities working in collaboration, and supported by retailers, designers, cultural institutes, museums and media. This year’s finalists were given the task of designing "optimistic solutions" and asked to "envisage a key development or change taking place in the next ten years and design two outfits which respond to it". The "Future Optimism" brief challenged students to "look forward and explore". Estela says,

 “My inspiration lies with a perception of increased stress and depression in the 21st Century. Clothes are our second skin and dress performs many functions in relation to our body: it can hide and protect us, make us feel safe and warm. But can our clothes calm us down? This question has inspired me to design clothes that could help people relax, inspired by how the soothing scent of lavender travel through our body and our breathing structure.”

Estela’s work will be judged by an industry panel, including fashion journalist, Hilary Alexander.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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