Ocean Williams of Whalley Range High School for girls, is the lucky winner of Manchester Fashion Week's competition in conjunction with sponsors, Duo Plastics, to design the official VIP bag for this years event!
Proud, Ocean Williams with Head Mistress of Whalley Range High School Ms Kane and MCRFW Head of Fashion Kirsty Attwood
(Image courtesy of MCRFW Photographer ©Leemo Rante)
The other 9 finalists at Whalley Range High School for girls
(Image courtesy of MCRFW Photographer ©Leemo Rante)
Ocean (aged 14) competed with fellow Whalley Range High School students to create an original and exciting design to adorn the goody bags of this years Manchester Fashion Week's VIP guests.
“We chose Whalley Range High School as it is a school that is right at the heart of Manchester. Their textiles department has recently been refurbished and a number of their pupils go on to design courses or aspire to work within the fashion industry. This year Manchester Fashion Week is all about creating a legacy for fashion in our city and we wanted to develop this from the grass roots.”
Kirsty Attwood, Head of Fashion at MCRFW
And clearly they chose right, with the 1500 strong girls school not failing to deliver! The girls were given a brief to create a design that "epitomises Manchester and reflects its edgy style." According to the MCRFW judges panel the standard was so high they narrowed it down to a final 10 designs before Ocean was crowned the winner!
“It was such a hard decision for us to make. The girls had come up with some amazing ideas but we felt Ocean really made an impact and loved use of the Manchester skyline and striking colours.”
Nadine Merabi, Manchester Designer, Fashionista and MCRFW Judge
Alongside Nadine on the judging panel was Duo Plastic UK's commercial Director, Anthony Brimelow. Leading polythene packaging manufacturer Duo Plastics UK is a Manchester-based
company, which works with leading retailers including ASOS, Boohoo.com and JD
Williams, follows professional hair salon brand REDKEN and cosmetics giant
Lancome in their desire to support the northern fashion event. Duo
will be supplying all the packaging required during the seven day event
including gift bags with any purchases and VIP goody bags. Brimelow shares his thoughts on why he has found this to be suh a good project for the company to get involved in:
“As a business retail is one of our key sectors – we count leading brands such as ASOS, Boohoo.com and JD Williams among our customers so there’s a natural affinity between us and many of the companies involved in Manchester Fashion Week. In fact we have worked with Boohoo.com, another ambassador of MCRFW from day one and supported them as their business has rapidly grown.
“In addition to this, we are a proud Manchester business and we’re celebrating our 25th anniversary this year. The city has been good to us so the way Manchester Fashion Week is nurturing new talent and helping young businesses grow really appeals to us.
Anthony Brimelow, Duo Plastic UK Commercial Director and MCRFW Judge
Most excitingly for Ocean, the design will now be made into an actual bag by the leading Manchester based packaging manufacturer and suppliers Duo UK, who are one of Manchester Fashion Week's main sponsors. How wonderful for her to see her design come to life!
Ocean's Winning Design!
This has been a fantastic way of MCRFW integrating young talent into their event. With 2013 marking Manchester Fashion Week's second year, we will see an increase in catwalk shows and exhibition space and with 20% of the 30 catwalks being donated to independent British Fashion Designers, it is providing them with a fantastic opportunity to showcase their work and for us to champion the new fashionistas of the future.
Congratulations Ocean!
To view the top 10 Whalley Range High School designs, visit the official MCRFW website by logging on to www.mcrfashionweek.com . Boohoo.com are the official sponsors to Manchester Fashion Week 2013, visit their site here at www.boohoo.com
Kate
#MCRFW
Manchester Fashion Week
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MFW
was established in 2012 to:
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To
create a must-visit event for fashion festival that offers an affordable and
aspirational platform for fashion designers and retailers to reach buyers
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Build
a legacy which ensures MFW drives investments in the city’s economy, as well as
the UK fashion industry
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Support
the development of fashion talent in Manchester and within the UK
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@MCRFashionWeek
Duo Plastics UK
Celebrating
its 25th anniversary next year, family-owned Duo Plastics UK is a
leading manufacturer of polythene packaging. The £25m turnover company, which
manufactures all its products at its sites in Manchester and Derby, serves
leading brands within the e-retail, mail order, industrial and entertainment
sectors. Retail clients include ASOS, Boohoo.com, JD Williams and F&F. For
further information visit www.duo-uk.co.uk or call 0161
2035767.
