Teen Designers Bring London Fashion Week to Triumphant Close

2012 FAD Junior Awards Winner: Serife Niyazi

Last night 17 year-old designer Serife Niyazi, a pupil at Prendergast Hilly Fields College in Lewisham South London, brought London Fashion Week to a triumphant close by winning the 2012 FAD Junior Awards.

Organised by creative charity FAD (Fashion Awareness Direct), and sponsored by George at Asda, the catwalk final featured designs by 25 talented teenagers from inner-city areas of London and Manchester and took place at Vauxhall Fashion Scout in Covent Garden on the last night of their London Fashion Week showcase.

 A visibly shocked but delighted winner took to the catwalk with a model sporting her ‘Great British Design’. Praised by the jury for its beautiful finishing and contemporary feel Serife’s outfit combined a leather trimmed box shirt, with covetable zigzag striped trousers in Wedgwood blue and white. Her prize, a two week design placement with FAD sponsors George at Asda, was presented by George Womenswear Designer Kausar Mitha.

With so much variation on the ‘Great British’ theme, it was a close competition to select just one winner. Two runners-up were announced on the night with Marks & Spencer designer Richard Bruce presenting the Award for Creative Pattern Cutting to 17 year-old Toyosi Salvador, from Blackheath Bluecoats School in Greenwich, South London. Toyosi impressed the jury with her brave and creative approach, showcasing a military inspired jacket with oversized pockets and embroidered detailing.

The Award for Commercial Design was announced by Boohoo.com Stylist Jennifer Gladman and awarded to Denea Joseph, 17, from Newham College in East London. Her wearable leather and suede splatter print dress featured 80’s punk safety pin detailing and exaggerated peplum waist.

Two special mentions were also made on the night by fashion illustrator, Niki Groom, (aka Miss Magpie Fashion Spy). Robyn Yeang, 19, of Queen’s College was recognised for her fashion illustrations while Ezoe Robinson, 18, from Ashmole Academy, North London received praise for her exceptional sketchbook work.

FAD’s Fashion Futures programme, which George is sponsoring as part of its pledge to champion young British talent, is now in its eighth year.  Aimed at 13-25 year olds, FAD’s fashion projects and competitions strive to support and nurture young talent in its earliest stages, working with industry partners to bring practical skills, careers advice and life changing opportunities to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

About the Author

Csaba Fikker

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Owner and Founder of The Los Angeles Fashion magazine. Csaba Fikker has created The Los Angeles Fashion magazine in hopes of bringing life to the local fashion scene in Los Angeles. He comes with a long history of success founding and co founding several online media companies. He also spent over a decade at various companies as a senior executive. He was one of the original co founders of ON24, once a world wide leader of online on-demand financial news. He served as a Senior VP of Production at NetMovies - a Napster sister company that later was bought by Blockbuster. Csaba Fikker's last corporate position was at KPMG Consulting where he was in charge of building the consulting firm's Streaming media practice. Since then he has left the corporate world in the pursuit of his dearest hobby Fashion Photography, where he spent close to a decade as a successful freelance visual artist. After contemplating on his idea of creating a fashion publication for over 5 years, in an already saturated market, the time and elements of creating a successful business model were just perfect again, thus the final result of this online publication that is set to go to print in late Spring 2012.

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