Hosted by Caryn Franklin and featuring a performance by Diversity, this year’s Graduate Fashion Week Gala Awards ceremony was a star-studded affair. From Alberta Ferretti and Mark Eley of Eley Kishomoto to Zandra Rhodes and Dylan Jones, fashion’s VIP were out in force to show their support for British graduates, whose work and collections demonstrated what a talented bunch they are.

This year’s River Island Gold Award, which includes a £20,000 prize, went to Rebecca Thomson of Manchester Metropolitan University. From Victoriana-style blouses and bold folded dresses to pussy-bow blouses and cotton ruffles, her collection, won the judges’ favour.

The Menswear Award went to Thomas Crisp of Ravensbourne College of Design & Communication for his imaginative use of gold leather mixed with flashes of burgundy, low-gusset trousers and even a black kilt.

Rhea Fields of Northbrook College took the Womanswear Award for a masculine meets feminine collection, which featured tuxedos and men’s tailoring details.

Not forgetting textile designers, Zandra Rhodes rose to the occasion to present an award in her honour; the Zandra Rhodes Catwalk Textiles Award went to Anna Lee of De Montfort University for her bold use of colour and Chinese dragon themed collection. From watery blues to eye-popping orange, her collection merged and fused a bright colour palette together with gorgeously designed Chinese dragon necklaces.

The BHM knitwear visionary knitwear award also showed off the talents of the three nominees but it was Ledina Zhang from Northumbria University, who captured the judges’ imagination with her oversized knits, drop-gusset jumpsuits and fun purple and yellow frills. Special mention was also made of her fantastic use of accessories.

For the first time in their 19-year history, the Graduate Fashion Week awards also celebrated the work of universities abroad to show that other countries are achieving high standards of education as well. A special International Award was presented to Roya Hesam of the Amsterdam Fashion Institute, for her use of fabrics. From wide-legged split trousers to an all-in-one black unitard with a skeleton-like pattern detail on the front, her collection was one of understated elegance.

It was a spectacular evening that celebrated British talent and showed that when it comes to fashion, the young graduates really do have passion for design.

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