Author Archives: Samantha Mcnally

About Samantha Mcnally

Samantha McNally, 20 Currently living in Sheffield, I have recently finished three years at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston studying Fashion Entrepreneurship. During this time I have gained valuable experience in a range of areas from trend forecasting to never leaving the house without an umbrella when your that far up north! Being a huge fan of music, art and fashion, I love going to gigs and events across the country with friends donning my usual stand out vintage printed shirt. Also I am an avid user of social media even if it is just to have a little nosey at what people are doing. I have spent the last 5 years working in retail alongside my education, within large soul crushing clothing retailers to much more interesting small vintage and wedding boutiques. I learnt very quickly that the phrase ‘there are no stupid questions’ is a lie, as anyone in retail will know that there are endless stupid questions asked on a daily basis. Last summer was also spent Interning at a London PR agency, learning all the ins and outs of the business whilst also having an incredible time working with stylists and having some fan girl moments of my own when celebrities visited the showroom. All in all I am outgoing and always looking for something new to experience with a wicked sense of humor and a taste for sarcasm ( much to my mothers despair).

Creative Focus Awards

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Friday 13th of June 2014 marked the beginning of the University of Central Lancashire Creative Focus week and the event that opened this event was the Creative Focus Awards.  A large crowd gathered in the University’s Atrium space to support the 30 plus students from the University of Central Lancashire all nominated for an award in recognition of their achievements

The awards were judged, this year, by not only the university but members of Creative Lancashire,  an initiative create by Lancashire County Council with the aim to support and promote creativity within the county. Winners from each of the three UCLan schools (the school of Journalism and Media, the school of Art, Design and Performance and the Grenfell-Baines School of Architecture), were awarded by Charles Hadcock, the chairman of Creative Lancashire and Professor Gerry Kelleher, the UCLan Vice Chancellor.

Winners from each category were announced as follows:

Architecture Award – Sally Archibald (Architectural Technology)

Design Award – Nicholas Norcross (Illustration)

Fashion Award – Femida Adam (Eastern Fashion Design)

Fine Art Award – Daveid Darbyshire (Drawing and Image Making)

Media Award – Lauren Clark (Screenwriting with Film, TV and Radio)

Performance Award – Catherine Shaw (Contemporary Theatre and Performance)

Creative Lancashire – Best in commercial viability Award:

Samantha Binns (Fshion and Brand Promotion with Photography)

Lanty Ball (Contemporary Crafts)

For further information on the event and its winners visit –

http://uclancreativefocus.com/uclan-recognition-creative-achievers/

Creative Focus Week

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This week the University of Central Lancashire opens its doors to the public for its Creative Focus Week from the 16th to the 21st June. A week long degree show exhibition of all its creative final year students individual work with courses stretching across a broad spectrum of subjects from Architecture, Media, Design, Fine art, Performance and fashion across the universities Preston campus.

The week features sculpture, design, paintings, sound instillations, animation, film and much more displayed in various studios located in the Hanover, Victoria and Harris buildings and the universities Media Factory. With the Hanover building also exhibiting work by the foundation year art and design students.

The week also features the Creative Focus Awards on Friday 13th June, with one student from each of the creative courses nominated and a student will be chosen from each area to receive the award. Friday the 20th of June will also see the catwalk exhibition of the UCLan Fashion Design students, many of which showcased their collections at this years Graduate Fashion week at London’s Truman Brewery.

The entire week long Creative Focus exhibition (10am-6pm )  is completely free and guided tours are available for businesses, schools and colleges. Staff and students can also be found throughout each building ready to discuss courses and individual work for any visitors wanting any more information. This highly anticipated event is a chance to see many important names of the creative future displaying their final major projects that their whole three academic years have been working up to.

Emma Robertson – GFW

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With Graduate Fashion Week now over for another year it is now time for Gola to look at the enormously talented students behind the collections seen on the catwalk.

I spoke with Emma Robertson a final year Fashion Design student from the University of Central Lancashire who was one of the talented few to showcase her final collection at this years Graduate Fashion Week. Emma’s contemporary A/W 15 menswear collection put a new spin on track wear and made us re-think the PVC stripe. It focuses on the juxtaposition between the attitude of menswear style during the great depression of the 1920’s and the stereotypical look of the modern day jobseeker. Executed perfectly using a contrasting combination of performance fabrics, wool and nylon in a palette of dirty lilacs and soft powdery blues amongst much heavier navy and cream tones set against a crisp white.

What was the inspiration behind your collection?

The inspiration behind my collection came from a visit to the ‘This Way Out’ exhibition at the Camp and Furnace in Liverpool. While I was there I saw a Karl Lagerfeld quote on the wall, which read, “If you’re wearing track pants, you’ve given up“. I’d seen a lot of TV programs on ‘benefits Britain’ at the time and there was a lot of coverage in the media on how job seekers and those claiming benefits were being portrayed. I made the connection with the quote that I had seen and started to think about how people in different social and financial situations approach their own fashion style.

For example – people wearing track pants therefore must have given up and those in suits are the picture of wealth and high society. I wanted to look back in history to find a time that was suffering from the same social and financial difficulties that benefits Britain struggle with today, but where men had a different attitude to style regardless of their circumstances. I chose to research into the Great Depression on the 1920’s where men were searching for jobs wearing sandwich boards on the street but also wore their best suit underneath it.

How would you describe your collections look?

ER: My collection is a merge of 1920’s tailored silhouettes modernised by sportswear fabrics and fastenings and PVC tracksuit stripes.

You decide to use Gola Classics within your collection, why is that?

ER: The reason I chose Gola was because these are a classically British brand and shoe. It was important to me to use a trainer that fit well with my concept and so they had to be of British heritage.

How did it feel to be able to show your final collection on the catwalk at Graduate Fashion Week?

ER: To show at Graduate fashion week was an amazing experience and something we all as young designers aspire to. I feel that it’s a good platform to show your final collection as many people from industry attend graduate fashion week and it is also exciting to be able to showcase your work to your family and friends.

Emma’s collection was highly received at the Graduate Fashion Week showcase and she has now even been contacted by magazines, who have asked to shoot and write about her work. She also tells me that she has also received some exciting job interviews by some big industry names. With this hugely positive reaction to her final collection and Emma’s previous experience at big names such as Alexander McQueen, Savil Row’s English Cut and Sportswear International, it is clear to see that her name is well worth watching out for in the not so distant future and we wish her all the best.

Aimee Green – GFW 2014

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Amiee Green, 23, from Liverpool, is an upcoming fashion design student from the University of Central Lancashire debuting her collection ‘Dressing Down Dior’ at this years Graduate Fashion Week, held in its new location of East London’s Truman Brewery.

The collection was developed through experimentation with silhouettes and influences from fashion in history. Aimee’s inspiration was everyday casual street style mixed with design aesthetics from Dior’s signature look. The collection also features a strong colour palette and range of prints, all influenced by the American abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko. Amiee is also using the Gola  Clasic’s, Women’s Spirit Jewel trainers to add the finishing touch to her look, with their classic sport shoe silhouette yet the added opulence of  small gems glittering with any movement.

With many previous students achieving promising careers in fashion after showcasing their collections at the event and the pressure to live up to UCLan’s huge success in 2012, with the fashion design students winning four awards and being shortlisted for seven, Aimee is feeling positive about the experience and feels it is a helpful steppingstone into the fashion industry.

Amiee’s collection ‘Dressed Down Dior’ was recently exhibited at Graduate Fashion Week.

Graduate Fashion Week 2014 – UCLan showcase

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From blood bags to bike shorts the University of Central Lancashire’s catwalk show was a highlight of day one at Graduate Fashion Week 2014.

The show featured a huge wide of designs created by the hugely talented young students with stand out collections from Kimberly Blackburn featuring fierce fringing, large circular vinyl accessories, oversized necklines and sculpted fabrics caging the body as if it were armour, all perfectly executed in the darkest shade of black.

Chloe Siddall’s collection took the show in a much more sporty direction with a mix of bright neon hues of lime green and acidic yellow overhauling the garments clean monochrome shapes and stripes.  Bright red bumbags also made a bold statement over the clash of colours adding to the sporty feel alongside skin tight bicycle shorts and subtle statements carefully positioned on the garments. Plus large gold accessories from hoops to hefty chains adding a seriously cool street feel to the entire look.

However the collection that made the biggest impact of the evening was Hollie Robinson’s blood inspired collection receiving reactions ranging from amazement to a slight squirm from the more squeamish of the audience, although it was undoubtedly memorable . The catwalk saw garments made from malleable sheer frosted plastic decorated with giant blood trype labels attached, enormous hospital patient wristbands boldly draped around waistlines/ wrists, all contrasting with highly structured block colour shirts. Printed blood bags also adorned models necks and created an entire show stopping dress that had the crowd in awe. The colour palette was direct, featuring blood red (of course), frosted whites and just a hint of black adding to the collections very confident if yet a little controversial statement.

Many other fantastic collections could also been seen from such designers as Amiee Green, Natalie Smith, Kelly Welborn, Jayne Acton, Jenifer Echeverria, Lucie Bloomfield, Rachel Wlkden, Mary Nansove, Alice Houghton,  Emma Robertson, Troy Cooper and Stephanie Chesworth ,displaying the high standard of UCLan’s design students this year all styled by Sophie Benson.