The fashion and textile design work of two Bucks students has been recognised at this year’s Global Design Graduate Show, organised by ARTSTHREAD and i-D Magazine, in partnership with Gucci.

Camilla Oleksy, BA (Hons) Textile Design, has been shortlisted in four categories - The Grand Jury Prize, the Imagination Prize, the Interiors Prize and the Materials Innovation Prize. Camilla’s ‘Neo-Traditionalism’ project combines Japanese design with “Western ideals of beauty”. Camilla used concrete and rope to create a material that can be worn.

Textile Design course leader, Poppy McKinnon-Evans, commented: “Camilla has worked incredibly hard through her final year and pushed herself to develop new, innovations in surface materials for Textiles.

“Lockdown proved a huge challenge as Camilla’s work focuses mainly on the production of 3D concrete structures. However, she defiantly overcame these hurdles and ultimately produced an excellent final collection.

Being shortlisted as one of the 20 finalists – out of 532 student portfolios – for the Première Vision NextGen Awards is a fantastic achievement for Camilla and excellent recognition for our Textile Design course. Camilla is has been selected to compete for 4 prizes - The Grand Jury Prize, the Imagination Prize, the Interiors Prize and the Materials Innovation Prize – highlighting the depth and breadth of the Textile design industry that her work reaches.”

Voting is open at https://www.artsthread.com/events/gdgs2020/ until 14 September and winners will be announced in the coming weeks.

Co-founder of ARTSTHREAD, Katie Dominy, commented on the innovation of this year’s graduates, having completed their projects during the pandemic. Katie described the shortlisted work as demonstrations of “adversity push[ing] creativity forward.”

BA (Hons) Fashion Design graduate, Danielle Fehely, has also been shortlisted in the Global Graduate Fashion Design Competition for her project ‘The Evolution of Denim’. Danielle chose to “create an entirely sustainable collection of garments by upcycling second hand, vintage denim”. Danielle aspires to make a change in the industry, moving away from fast fashion and raising the profile of recycling existing materials.

Brigitte Stockton, Course Leader for BA (Hons) Fashion Design, added: "Danielle worked hard in her final year to experiment with both traditional and contemporary methods to achieve an exciting collection that demonstrates how sustainable fashion and upcycling can be. It was inspiring to see her work showcased in the August edition of Aesthetica and now shortlisted in such a prestigious competition."

Camilla and Danielle’s full portfolios can also be viewed here:

Camilla: https://www.artsthread.com/portfolios/neo-traditionalism-hard-to-wear/

Danielle: https://www.artsthread.com/portfolios/the-evolution-of-denim/