Sean goes coast to coast for inspiration for his Graduate Fashion Week catwalk collection

Fashion student Sean Leggett from Coventry has proved to be one to watch after his final year collection was chosen to represent the University of Northampton at this year’s Graduate Fashion Week.

With his coastal clash concept, Sean has focused on the stark contrasts between the quaintness of the English seaside towns of Cornwall and the hustle and bustle of New York. To achieve this, Sean assigned a colour for each coast: gold to represent Cornwall as he associated it with a laid-back surfer dude vibe and silver for New York to represent the steel of the towering sky scrapers.

He said: “My collection is sportwear with a luxury twist, which would suit the urban and hip hop market, so I have used stretchy materials, such as jersey and airtex mesh fabric. It’s been quick tricky working out how to complement the gold and silver colours as this is typically not seen in any fashion trends, but I wanted my pieces to be original.

“I started my fashion career by doing a foundation course at home in Coventry then came to the University of Northampton for an interview for the BA (Hons) Fashion course. After having a tour of the studios and facilities, I liked what I saw and thought it was particularly good that you covered all pathways in the first year so you could see what you liked and what suited you.

“One of the biggest lessons I have learnt is not to rush things and definitely never sew in a hurry. This will hopefully come in handy in the future when I have my own design business. I have really enjoyed the experience of designing and making my own collection.”

Graduate Fashion Week takes place from Sunday 5 to Wednesday 8 June at the Truman Brewery in Shoreditch and has been firmly established as the world’s leading event for fashion graduates. The University of Northampton’s catwalk show takes place on Monday 6 June and is in partnership with world-leading manufacturer of holistic natural cosmetics, Weleda.