GRADUATE FASHION WEEK - DAY ONE

I am very fortunate in that my day job allows me to some great events, including Graduate Fashion Week which kicked off today this Sunday at Earl's Court 2.

I love GFW because everyone just seems so (to bluntly put it) KEEN!

There is none of the jaded "been there and done that attitude" which you can sometimes see at London Fashion Week and everyone is very optimistic about the new wave of talent coming out of the UK's top Universities.

As a result there is a good buzz about the show and on the first day it was packed as usual.

I started my day off with the first catwalk from the University of East London and was instantly blown away with the maturity of some of the collections. Clearly these designers had thought about the buyers, the press, their end customer and everything in-between. My favourite looks were probably the print based collections including Lulu Ghebre who reminded me a lot of Georgina Hardinge. Others that caught my eye were the architecturally sculptural yet feminine collections of Aimee Ward and Uma Kangai.

I then went on to the University of Central Lancashire show before my camera died (apologies for the blurry images) where i found more of the same. Sculpture and beauty from Samantha Messias, prints from Steph Cunningham, including a baroque jacket I just have to have, and the two were combined by Xiaoping (Fiona) Huang to great effect. Accordion trousers anyone?

Below I have highlighted some of my favourites from Sunday's opening shows and I'll be back later with more looks from the likes of De Montfort and Nottingham Trent. Enjoy!

Natalie Dawson, fashion writer, WWB magazine x

University of East London

Terri Leigh Finnegan



Fileep Johan

Tiffany Baron

Aimee Ward

 Lulu Ghebre

University of Central Lancashire

Samantha Messias

Steph Cunningham

Xiaping (Fiona) Huang