Iconic fashion designer Dame Zandra Rhodes praises DMU Contour Fashion students

World famous fashion designer Dame Zandra Rhodes, who was a guest of honour at this year’s De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) Contour Fashion Show, has praised the ‘beautiful high standard’ of the students’ work.

Dame Zandra, who received an honorary degree from DMU last year and has donated more than 50 years-worth of design archives to the university, was just one of many high-profile fashion leaders to attend the spectacular catwalk show.

Dame Zandra Rhodes with Contour Fashion students after the show

There were also dozens of former students in attendance who have since gone on to establish themselves in the fashion industry.

The show was pulled together by Rachel Toner, Programme Leader for Contour Fashiuon, and her team and included professional models, hairdressers, make-up artists, dressers and a tech team to run the cameras, music and lighting.

Dame Zandra, who has counted Princess Diana, Marc Bolan and Freddie Mercury among her huge roster of clients. said: “It was a beautiful high standard. There was a very high quality of workmanship, done in a very complex manor.  It will lead the way for students’ finding jobs within the industry.”

A total of 20 collections were shown on the runway at The Venue@DMU which had been dressed as a large panelled white room accompanied with large screen, full lighting rig and a booming soundtrack.

Student designs covered everything from lingerie and corsetry to sportswear and swimwear, using multiple skilled techniques to create their work.

Craig Spellar, design director of global company Ananta Intimates, said: “We had two polar opposites on the catwalk, the people who really like structure and the other people who are exploring that soft and sensual side. The strongest pieces were very clean and almost domineering. We’re looking forward to seeing what they do next.” 

Pamela Scott, of fashion media group Underlines said: “There were some super strong collections in there with quite a lot of things veering away from the mainstream lingerie, which was interesting to see.

“The leather collections in particular were very good and I thought that the actual catwalk show itself was very, very well put together.”

Fashion house Karen Millen attended the Contour catwalk for the first time with team Tama Cato, head of merchandising, Ros Salmon, buying director and design director Bonnie Godsil all wowed by the show.

Bonnie said: “We loved it, it was incredible. We were quite surprised by how much variation there was in the different collections and you could see all the different techniques from embroidery to leather to printing.

“We are doing a project with the first years around our brand and from the quality we have seen from the final years today I can’t wait to see what they come up with for us.”

Barry Head, Stretchline’s sales and marketing director, said: “I think it was absolutely gorgeous. It was amazing and the standard of work was just what you come to expect from DMU.”

Mollie Falkingham is a DMU alumni who now runs intimates design studio Mal Amora in Long Eaton. She maintains close links with the university and runs corsetry masterclasses and tutorials with Contour students. She said the collections were “absolutely lovely.”

She added: “I did tutorials for them at the start of the course and to see their collections now in their final year is just incredible. You can see how far they have come.”

Lucy Ward, a DMU graduate who is now Lead Product Developer at underwear firm Lounge – who were one of the platinum sponsors of the event along with Stretchline – said: “As a former student I understand what the students have gone through to get to the catwalk and they should be really proud of themselves. They were brilliant.

“I loved my time at DMU. I would go back if I could. It was crazy hours and you put you all into the course and it got me to where I am now. It was brilliant. It is great to come back and see what the new talent is.”

Fellow graduate Talia Platts, assistant Lingerie Designer at Next, added: “it was an amazing show. You could tell how much effort everyone had put in. The Contour Fashion course at DMU is amazing and it is nice to come back. It is like a family.”

Caroline Jackson, Managing Director of lingerie firm littlewomen.com, has taken on interns from DMU’s Contour Fashion course.

She said: “The standard was as high as I expected it to be. It was professionally produced, the garments were imaginative and thoughtful and, from an industry perspective, inspirational.

“We are a small family-owned company and we know we can give undergraduates and post-graduates from DMU valuable experience and that will give them a head start with their portfolios and employability.”

It was a hive of activity backstage before, during and after the show

DMU’s Contour Fashion course is widely praised by industry experts and considered to be one of the best in the world.

The course was founded in 1947 by the Corsetry Guild of Great Britain as part of a post-World War Two effort to inspire an upswing in local designers.

Now it produces graduates who go on to wow the industry, dress the stars and set global fashion trends.

Posted on Tuesday 16 July 2024