The Work in Progress exhibition is an annual window on the emerging talent currently studying on the prestigious postgraduate courses run by the UK’s Royal College of Art. Examples of work from all of the current fashion and textiles students were displayed from January 11-18 2012, in a free, exciting and inspiring show. In this first post, ARTS THREAD chooses some highlights from the womenswear fashion students.

We were drawn to the exhibition La Noir dans la Méditérranée at Who’s Next/Prêt-à-Porter – a display of seven designers, all from countries around the Mediterranean, who all worked on a project around the theme of Black.

We are at Who’s Next/Prêt-à-Porter with the 10 winners of the Who’s Next/Arts Thread competition, open from today until Tuesday. Look out for more posts from the show.

Who’s Next/Prêt-à-Porter starts this Saturday and ARTS THREAD will be there with 10 up-and-coming fashion designers. One such designer is Bath Spa University Fashion Design BA (Hons) graduate Lucy Penny who will be showcasing her graduate collection Skin Deep. We had a chat with Lucy to learn about her inspirations, recent projects and plans for the future:

Come along to meet ARTS THREAD at Who’s Next/Prêt-à-Porter where we are showcasing the work of 10 incredible new fashion designers. Liverpool John Moores University Fashion BA (Hons) graduate Alena Johnson has joined us to display her incredible collection The Unberable Lightness of Seeing. ARTS THREAD ask Alena a couple of questions to learn more about her work:

Meet Diego Vanassibara, a London College of Fashion Cordwainers Footwear: Product Design and Development BA (Hons) graduate with a passion for quality footwear. Diego will be accompanying our other winning designers at this year’s Who’s Next/Prêt-à-Porter event in Paris and we can’t wait for you to meet him!

London based women’s knitwear designer Ruth Green graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2011 with an MA Fashion Design. Since completing her studies she has exhibited internationally, won awards and spent her time working on a brand new collection. As she prepares for Who’s Next, Ruth talks to ARTS THREAD about her A/W 2012 collection and love of knitting!

Manchester School of Art MMU Fashion BA (Hons) graduate Toni Stott is one of the 10 Who’s Next/ARTS THREAD competition winners who will be joining us at the leading global tradeshow in Paris from 21 – 24 February. Toni Stott designs beautiful, layered womenswear inspired by ballet and the romance of 15th century costume. We spoke with Toni to learn more about her work.

The third emerging designer who will be joining ARTS THREAD at Who’s Next in Paris is University for the Creative Arts: Rochester graduate Lyudmila Lane.

Footwear designer and Royal College of Art graduate Victoria Spruce will be joining ARTS THREAD at Who’s Next/Prêt-à-Porter in Paris later this month. We first became aware of Victoria’s incredible talent for shoemaking during the RCA’s Work in Progress: Fashion Womenswear exhibition back in February and since then we’ve seen nothing but great things from her! As the first day of Who’s Next fast approaches, Victoria takes some time out to tell us about her graduate collection and love of shoes!