Students impress the Leathersellers Company with their work

Students at the University of Northampton have impressed the Leathersellers Company with the use of leather in their garment collections and footwear and accessories ranges.

Judges Martin Pebody and William Tusting were invited to meet the students at Avenue Campus and see their work first-hand so they could decide the winners of the 2017 Leathersellers Awards, which were presented at the Degree Show on 9 June.

Third year student Sharon Mensah, who recently took part in the University’s catwalk show at Graduate Fashion Week and Hannah Gulver, who is in her second year, were both presented with the Innovative Use of Leather award. Sharon was chosen due to her draping and layering of shapes and her use of laser cutting, while Hannah demonstrated the effective way she used interesting quilting and leather manipulation. Both were awarded £1,000.

The Internship Awards was presented to second year student Isla Macinnes and first year student Grace Owusu and both were awarded £500.

Chris Hill, Programme Leader for Footwear and Accessories, commented: “Students on the Fashion, Textiles for Fashion and Footwear and Accessories courses are able to benefit from the extremely generous awards from the Leathersellers Company. #

“These awards enable students to undertake internships and develop their leather collections in innovative and exciting directions. As one of the only universities in the country that has a working tannery and specialises in leather product, we are very grateful to the Leathersellers for their continued support.”