With graduate fashion week turning 26 this year, we saw another round of aspiring graduates take on the career propelling catwalk at the Truman Brewery.

A highlight of the week was the prestigious award by Christopher Bailey, the Gold Award, which was won by Edinburgh College of Art student Halina North. Halina’s work displayed a strong interest in sustainability which is looking to be a very important trend over the next few years and its lovely that this is celebrated and awarded at graduate level also.

Here is a look at some of the designers who stood out from a print perspective during the week:

Coral Smith, Sheffield Hallam

Coral Smith explored the deconstruction of working class menswear. Her prints were influenced by an industrial landscape and traditional male roles. The print being the main focus of this collection, was vibrant and exaggerated, really challenging these masculine notions.

Louise Clark – Manchester School of Art

Awarded the George Catwalk to Store award, Louise Clark’s whimsical collection showed great commercial potential. She used feminine fabrications such as devore and flocking to add depth to the already enchanting prints.

Zara Byford, Sheffield Hallam

Zara Byford took inspiration from her hometown of Skegness to create her luminescent collection. She looked at the arcade and fair culture that makes Skegness memorable for all the wrong reasons. The oversized checks are inspired by the Burberry check which is a popular fashion statement in the seaside town.

Zainab Fazal, University of Lanchashire

Lemon yellow and zingy turquoise, such a fresh colourcombination to sit back with dark denim. Geometric patterns placed upon the garments in various shapes and repeats adds to the collections intrigue.

Fraser Miller, De Montfort University

Bold and bright are words not usually used to describe menswear design but Fraser Miller certainly broke this mould. A brave mix of vintage floralsand cut-about knitted stripes, Millers collection was innovative and playful. The colourful pallets was complimentary with bright hues sitting back to camels and burnt rusts.

Evelyne Babin, Epson University of the Arts

Voluminous, daring pattern and colour, Evelyne Babins runway collection had it all and was one of the favorites among the judges. Inspired by East African culture, the collection was a beautiful mixture of hand crafts and pattern from this corner of the world. Banana-leaf craft, woodblock printing and broderie-anglaise were all techniques used to execute this vibrant collection.

With thanks to the GFW press team

All images curtsey of Graduate Fashion Week