Shortlisting for international fashion design competition is music to student’s ears

It’s been a busy week for one University of Northampton student, who has just landed back in the UK after jetting across to Germany to see her rap-inspired fashion designs printed as part of an international competition.

Final-year Fashion Design student, Emily Andrews has skipped to her own beat in designing music-inspired textiles as part of the GFF x Kornit Digital Printed Fashion Textile Competition, shooting her shot at one of only three winning places.

The competition invited students to create textile designs which breathe new life into second-hand collections and play their part in shaping the future of sustainable fashion. The top three chosen designs will feature on the Graduate Fashion Week 2023 ‘Best of Show’ catwalk later this year.

Inspired by a celebration of female empowerment within hip-hop rap music, Emily’s design has been selected as one of only eight collections shortlisted for the next round of judging by Graduate Fashion Foundation and Kornit Digital, an international manufacturer which specialises in printing clothing garments.

On entering the competition, Emily explains: “I was shocked when I heard my name announced as one of the eight finalists. When creating my designs, I felt quite overwhelmed and experienced a lot of self-doubt…but here I am, returning to the UK after seeing my work in production!

“My final textile design centres around women empowerment within rap music. As this industry is still a male dominated genre, I wanted to show off all the powerful women that have inspired myself, their fan base and each other as professional musicians.

“I used multiple women’s faces within my work, including Nicki Minaj, Lil Kim and Doja Cat, creating a blended collage to give their faces a ‘quirky’ look. I then built upon this, adding three-dimensions using recycled jewellery and false eyelashes to one of them. I really love how they turned out.”

On 15 March, Emily flew off to Düsseldorf, Germany alongside the competition’s seven other finalists to see her print go into production using advanced printing technology at Kornit’s headquarters.

The designs will soon be flown back to London for the second round of judging, after which three winners will be selected to present their designs during Graduate Fashion Week 2023 in June.

On her visit, Emily said: “I’m thrilled to have had this exclusive chance to see all my designs printed on the fabrics which I plan to use for my final-year clothing collection.

“Watching my designs come to life before my eyes was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and the whole trip has given me a unique insight into the professional world of fashion and ultimately helped to develop me as a designer.”

Emily’s printed textiles will be showcased within the entrance space to Graduate Fashion Week 2023, with the final judging expected to take place next month ahead of the Graduate Fashion Week catwalk on Thursday 15 June 2023.

Find out more about studying Fashion Design at the University of Northampton.