Alphy Roy and Justyna Jagielnik represented Bedfordshire in a collective fashion show, joining forces with students from six other institutions to exhibit their work and engage in competitions for professional placements.

Graduate Fashion Week, organised by the Graduate Fashion Foundation, is renowned for highlighting the innovative and creative talents of the next generation of fashion designers. The event, held at the iconic Truman Brewery in London, showcases emerging talent from leading fashion courses and universities across the UK.

Alphy’s designs were themed around designing a world for herself where everything is made of yarn, inspired by her love of crochet, while Justyna’s fashion pieces were inspired by interesting everyday life stories.

Speaking about the opportunity, Alphy said: “My degree, including my tutor, my technician, and the University itself and the opportunities it provides for us as students has done a really good job in putting me out into the industry and showing me the ropes of how the industry works. I’m really happy with how the collection turned out and the reactions.”

Justyna added: “It was really exciting – stressful as well! – but I think it went very well. It’s really busy and everything has happened very quickly, you have to make sure everything is prepared and well styled. For my first time backstage, it’s been a really good experience as a designer.”

Adam Gefen, Course Co-Ordinator for Fashion Design, also praised the students: “It’s really exciting to have our students come and participate at Graduate Fashion Show. It’s our first time and it’s really nice to see the students come into their own and be able to showcase their collections. We chose students that really deserved it; they were diligent, worked really hard and I’m really happy with what they did and how they brought it together. It’s a very good platform for us to be able to showcase our students to the industry.”

To find out more about studying Fashion Design at the University of Bedfordshire, click here.