Latest FAD: Young designers take centre stage

London – Vauxhall Fashion Scout celebrated 10 years of the Fashion Awareness Direct competition on 22 February, at the Freemasons Hall in Covent Garden.

LS:N Global’s Joanna Tulej was on the judging panel for the 2011 final, for which entrants were asked to ‘escape from the everyday into a place of wonder and distraction’.

First place was awarded to Milly Jackson of Nottingham Trent University for her playful, sculptured dresses inspired by the novel Life of Pi. The judges were impressed with Jackson’s exploration of ideas through beautiful illustrations, translated into strong statement pieces that were full of life and curiosity.

Runners-up were Annie Vallis, also of Nottingham Trent University, and Laura Carew-Gibson of De Montfort University. Vallis’s urban trekker menswear collection picked up on this season’s trend for blended digital prints and struck a good balance between conceptualism and wearability. Similarly, Carew-Gibson showed her skill for digital print design with her Miami Beach 1980s-style pieces.

Watch out for LS:N Global’s round-up of London Fashion Week, which will include the top new designers to watch.