2010 F.A.D. SUMMER SCHOOL

This year’s Fashion Futures 2 Summer School took place at The University of East London (UEL), marking the beginning of an exciting partnership for creative charity F.A.D.

The 24 finalists (4 from Greater Manchester, and 20 from London) spent five days with a team of expert tutors, technicians and graduate mentors creating their final outfits for the London Fashion Week catwalk.

The themes of Renaissance and new luxury have inspired the young designers, with draped silhouettes and opulent jewel shades cited as key influences from their research trip to the V&A.

"I think FAD is brilliant. The whole experience has been amazing and I’m just so thankful, because not everyone gets to do stuff like this. I did Fashion Futures 1 with FAD when I was in Year 10, that was great as well. I enjoyed it last time, and I knew this time was going to be so much harder, but also so much better in a way." – Chelsea Ward, Plumstead Manor (Greenwich)

Chelsey Ward, Plumstead Manor; Andre Augusto, Hampstead School; Black & blue dress by Andre Augusto.

Yoshoda Rodgers, The Charter School; 'Party dress' with metal peter pan collar

Aside from having unlimited access to the university’s facilities, the finalists were also lucky to meet with recent UEL graduate, Bunmi Olyade, whose womenswear label is currently making waves in UK fashion.

Visit our website again next month, when the winners and runners-up will be announced at the 2010 FAD Junior Awards & catwalk show. The event will take place for the third year running at Vauxhall Fashion Scout as part of their London Fashion Week schedule.

Scroll down to see more photos of the finalists in action and read what they really thought of their university experience.

Michelle Smith, St Francis Xavier 6th Form College; Stain glass dress by Adam Preece, Tameside College

Shomari Williams, Highbury Grove 6th Form; Philip Luu, City & Islington College

"I think it’s a brilliant opportunity, to have this on your CV, and having the experience and the pressure we’ve had to make a dress in three days. I didn’t think I would get this far, but it’s been mad. Yeah, it’s a good confidence boost." – Adam Preece, Tameside College (Greater Manchester)

"My teacher has called me everyday since I started this week. She was my textiles teacher in GCSE, so she wants to know how everything is going on. I think everyone is kind of proud of me for getting through to this stage." – Shomari Williams, Highbury Grove 6th Form

"Being part of FF2 has made me realise what skills I would need to improve on if I really decide to become a fashion designer. It’s made me realise that learning how to pattern cut is really important – it’s the foundation that you need to make a good garment." – Sinead Cloonan, City & Islington College

Embroidery by Sinead Cloonan

Karmen-Marie Parker, St. Angela's & St Bonaventures 6th form; Natalie Goreham, Valentines High School

“It’s been quite tough. It’s really intense because everybody is so focused on working. But I’ve learnt quite a lot this week, I’m really surprised, I learnt a lot of new stuff, a lot of new skills. I thought ‘I’m going to make a garment, I’ve already done all that; I’ve already done it once’. But actually there is a lot more stuff to learn like using the industrial machines and the overlockers for example.” - Natalie Goreham, Valentine's High School (Redbridge)

“My inspiration came from the Italian water fountains that I saw in the Medieval and Renaissance galleries and the eagles standing proud with their wings out, which is how I came up with the wing design that goes on the back of my garment. The distressed denim came from the tapestries and the way some of them had aged and worn away.” – Karmen-Marie Parker, St. Angela's & St Bonaventures 6th Form (Newham)

“It’s made me think that I can do stuff, like I can be creative; more creative and more open to ideas. If I didn’t go to course like F.A.D.’s I wouldn’t see industry, or get that much insight into it.” – Misbah Siddique, Clapton Girl’s School (Hackney)

Rebecca Glyn-Blanco, Camden School for Girls and David Short, Lewisham College (Dress by David Short)

David Short, Lewisham College; Kimberly Boton, Salford City College Pendleton Centre

"I think FAD is really good. It really is helping a lot of students. People like me who want to go further into education, and this is something they really want to do, it gives them a chance to move onto the next level instead of working hard and not moving anywhere. These organisations help students and give them an opportunity to get themselves out there and learn a lot from industry." – Kimberly Boton, Salford City College Pendleton Centre (Greater Manchester)

"My garment is a bit of everything really. The lines were from some medieval armour, the plaits were from hairstyles taken from the Renaissance statues and then I went to visit a really old, medieval church near where I live and got the surface decoration idea from the old bricks." – Sarah Kilkenny, Ashton Sixth Form College (Greater Manchester)

Sarah Kilkenny, Ashton 6th Form College

Finalists watch the 2010 UEL graduate show