Students to see their designs brought to life after impressing Dr Martens

Three lucky first year students at the University of Northampton will see their designs brought to life by iconic brand Dr Martens after impressing judges during a live project.

Footwear and Accessories student Murrin Campbell was the proud winner of the Footwear Design category, while Grace Owusu, who is studying Fashion, and Poppy Dowsing, who is studying Textiles for Fashion, were named as the winners in the Garment Design category.

The students all received a live project brief where they were tasked to design and create fashion, footwear and accessories that were in line with the Dr Martens brand, as well as producing a series of sketches, design boards and design development sheets.

To help them understand the concept of the project, the students were all invited to the Dr Marten offices and factory in Wollaston where they met the apprentice team, machinists, designers and members of the management team.

They were also given a tour of the factory to gain an understanding of the capabilities of the materials and the constraints of manufacture. They also got to hear from the UK Production manager, who gave a presentation based on youth and sub-cultures that related directly to their project brief and he also gave an overview of the history behind the brand.

At the end of the project, Steve Bent, Jess Mitchell and Will Bell from Doc Martens visited the students in their students at the University to see which of the designs best represented their brand, which resulted in Murrin, Grace and Poppy being chosen as the winners and will have their designs produced at the Dr Martens factory.

Monica Bateman Cameron O’Loan and Amber Rawlins were also highly commended for their designs.

Gavin Douglas, Senior Lecturer in Fashion, said: “The first year students really enjoyed the experience and it provided an excellent opportunity to design and make fashion garments, footwear and accessories specifically for an industry client.

“The project allowed our students to present their work professionally to industry experts and improve their design skills, industry knowledge and employability skills. We were extremely pleased that Dr Martens were onboard this live industry project.”