A group of 12 talented Fashion Design degree students from South Essex College were catwalking tall after their triumphant final year fashion show at The Rayleigh Club.
The event showcased the culmination of three years hard work from the dedicated BA (Hons) Fashion Design students, based at the College’s Southend Campus in Southend.
The sumptuous mix of design styles and fabrics, which included menswear, womenswear and childrenswear was viewed by an audience of over 200 people, mostly made up of supportive family and friends.
Course Leader for BA (Hons) Fashion Design, Sonya Hovell, said: “It was an exceptional show full of genuinely unique talents whose designs had clear direction and were very creative. We’ve had a real bunch of super stars this year and they’ve really done themselves proud.”
She went on to explain how the Fashion Show gives the students a real sense of achievement and how the film of the show and images are important to them when looking for employment and for their portfolio. The students always worked hard behind the scenes, organising the show, its marketing and picking the all important venue.
Sonya added: “The Fashion Show is also important to friends and family who’ve supported the students throughout their studies, especially the demanding final year, so it really gives everyone the chance to celebrate this strong collective of student’s work and acts as a fantastic calling card for them, their work and the College as well.”
One final year student whose Fashion degree is already paying off is Rebecca Reader, 21, from Leigh-on-Sea. After successfully gaining a six month internship through her course at local designers Mia Elizabeth, Rebecca has now been set on as a Design Assistant at the Rochford based bridal and evening wear designers
The former Seevic student said: “Having the internship at Mia Elizabeth was a fantastic opportunity and really helped give me extra confidence and encouragement in my final year of study. Mia was even there to support me on the evening to view my collection as it came down the catwalk.
“I created six outfits which had a total of 13 garments and were based around the theme of natural beauty and I very much took my inspiration from the likes of the natural formation of trees to fish scales, flowers and jelly fish. I even sourced some of my material from Los Angeles as I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted here in the UK.
“It was a great night and I really enjoyed the fashion show as we don’t always get to see what fellow students are doing so it was nice to see the fantastic mix of other garments and high quality student work that was produced.”
The BA (Hons) Fashion Design Catwalk Show might have only been for one night only but going on the quality and diverse range of designs on show this isn’t the last we have heard of the class of 2013.
View further images from the show here on the Official South Essex College Facebook page.