Fashanne
Fashion Designers of the Future AwardsFashanne on BBC Radio 2!
When Anne (or as Scott calls her ‘Fashanne’) surprised Scott Mills for his birthday on Radio 2. Spending the morning with Scott, Sam Ryder and JLS. BBC East Midlands Today 28th March 2025.
FASHANNE is a conduit for connecting industry with the next generation of talent in the fashion and textiles sector. Fashanne partners with the Midlands-based universities providing a programme that gives invaluable insights into the workplace, a platform to showcase their students’ designs at our annual live event, mentoring and internships.
“The standard at Fashanne is phenomenal. For me, it’s a treat to spend time with such engaged, enthusiastic and talented young people. We have a big challenge ahead of us in this industry, and only with ingenuity and creativity in design and the making of the clothes, we are going to solve this problem. Every year I’m delighted and surprised to see what the students produce.” Patrick Grant, Fashion Designer and Businessman
“It is always a wonderful feeling when you see young talent, and think, actually, not only you can do it, but you do it well”. Giuliano Martello, Menswear Coordinator, Paul Smith
“Thank you for putting on a really successful evening – I am not just saying that because of the success of NTU, but because of the industry engagement.” Michael Marsden, Executive Dean, Nottingham School of Art & Design, Nottingham Trent University
“Excellent evening and extremely enjoyable! We really enjoy supporting the universities with their different projects and last night proves why it’s so important. Well done – you should be very proud.” Matt Boam, Director, Print 4
“A massive thank you to the Fashanne Awards and their judges for awarding me as the winner of the 2023 High Street Menswear Fashanne Award. I am so grateful that judges from such well-renowned fashion brands and platforms are fascinated by my work, and I thoroughly look forward to see where it will take me in my career. Thank you so much to Next for offering me an internship as part of the award, I’m eager to bring an alternative approach to multi-purpose outerwear and look forward to becoming a part of your welcoming team.” Scarlett Simpson, Fashion Design Graduate from Nottingham Trent University
“The Fashanne Awards are brilliant! I don’t think people know how amazing they are. I hope you feel proud of what you and your team have achieved.” Katie Greenyer, Creative Director, Pentland Brands
Latest News
Fashanne Spring Newsletter 2025 – CLICK HERE
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Case Study with Caroline Sani – Winner of the 2022 People’s Choice Award – CLICK HERE
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Q&A with Luoyuan Zhang – Winner of the 2023 ASBCI Innovation Award, sponsored by Style 3D – CLICK HERE
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East Midlands Chamber & Business Network Magazine: Connecting fashion talent with Industry – CLICK HERE
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Q&A with Emma Garner – Winner of the 2016 Accessories Award – CLICK HERE
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What’s the latest? December’s Newsletter now out – CLICK HERE
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Tickets are now on Sale. Sponsorship Opportunities still available – contact laura@annedaviestv.co.uk
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Q&A with Jihwi Ahn – Winner of the 2023 Footwear & Accessories Award, sponsored by Pentland Brands – CLICK HERE
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Fashanne chats to Brooke Sheerin – her experience of Fashanne and how she ended up with a job at Next at the end of it! – CLICK HERE
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Anne was Rylan’s surprise guest on his Radio 2 show. CLICK HERE to listen to a clip of the show
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Q&A with Scarlett Simpson – Winner of the 2023 High Street Menswear Award, sponsored by Next – CLICK HERE
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THE POP-UP GALLERY
The Fashanne Pop-Up gallery was a great success showcasing all the finalists and the 2023 Winners. Thank you to Print 4 and Office Twelve for all their efforts.
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FASHANNE TAKES FLIGHT AT EAST MIDLANDS AIRPORT
Designs by finalists of FASHANNE – Fashion Designers of the Future Awards have been unveiled as part of a permanent exhibition at East Midlands Airport. The stunning 24-piece photography display shows off the designs created by final-year fashion and textile students from Universities that have participated in these prestigious awards over the years. Full article
Fashanne
Fashion is so much more than clothes. It’s about creativity, it’s about the way we think, the aspirations we harbour, the way we live and the way we want to live. And that’s why Fashanne exists – to give the next generation the chance to not only showcase THEIR creativity but also take who they are and who they want to become to those world class brands, manufacturers and retailers that will be their future. Enabling mentoring and internships with leading companies from the world of fashion and textiles, we help build long-term sustainable connections in a fiercely competitive industry as well as helping future proof established brands with a pipeline of new generation designers.
Since our first show in 2016, and all through Covid, more than 300 students have passed through our awards programme, with winners taking up internships and many going on to employment within the fashion industry. Making those all-important connections early on is incredibly powerful and we are proud to play such an important role in our young designers’ fledgling careers.
A huge thank you to all the sponsors, universities, judges and other incredibly supportive organisations and individuals without whom so much of this would not be possible.
WORKSHOPS
As part of the Fashanne Programme, we are hosting a number of Workshops with our Sponsors to give the students invaluable insights into the industry. These are exclusively available to all our participating universities.
The first 3 workshops are with Next. Q&As with our judges – Zeph Logan (Womenswear) and Jonathan Pedley (High Street Menswear) – and also with Ria Kenney who is a Buyer at Next.
Workshop 4 is all about labelling – Q&A session with Hayley Solomon, Group Brand & Marketing Director, ITL Group. Hayley is the judge for the Commercial Award.
Workshop 5 is now available – Q&A with Giuliano Martello, Menswear Coordinator, Paul Smith. He has worked at Paul Smith for over 30 years and gives some great insights and also shares what he is looking for when judging this year’s entries for the Designer Menswear Award.
Fashanne 2023 Highlights
Fashanne 2023 was our seventh awards and our fifth live event (as we went online for 2020 and 2021), and the students’ designs were outstanding! The whole evening celebrating these fashion designers of the future proved a great success. Our theme this year was ‘Earth’ focusing on sustainability and zero-waste. The make up on the models was biodegradable and cruelty-free; the canapes served were plant-based; sustainably sourced local refreshments; the awards and printed items were made from sustainably sourced bamboo and plant friendly dyes.
Congratulations to the winners:
The Athleisure Design Award
Francisca Santos (De Montfort University)
The Commercial Design Award sponsored by ITL – Intelligent Label Solutions
Sofia Fabbricatore (De Montfort University)
The Designer Menswear Award sponsored by Paul Smith
Harry Wheeler (Nottingham Trent University)
The Footwear & Accessory Design Award sponsored by Pentland Brands
Jihwi Ahn (De Montfort University)
The High Street Menswear Award sponsored by Next
Scarlett Simpson (Nottingham Trent University)
The ASBCI Innovation Award sponsored by Style 3D
Luoyuan Zhang (Nottingham Trent University)
The Knitwear Design Award sponsored by Stoll GB
Gus Beech (Nottingham Trent University)
The Sustainability Award sponsored by GreenEarth Cleaning
Harriet Fletcher-Gilhuys (Nottingham Trent University)
The Textile Design Award
Shuyu Zhou (University of Derby)
The Womenswear Design Award sponsored by Next
Hoang Son Le (Nottingham Trent University)
The People’s Choice Award sponsored by Victoria Centre
Bruna Neves (University of Derby) with 1,041 votes out of 10,000.
The Daniel Hanson Award for Excellence sponsored by Nottingham BID
Harriet Fletcher-Gilhuys (Nottingham Trent University)
A big thank you to Patrick Grant for being our co-host for the evening. The judges: Chris Johnson, Hayley Solomon, Giuliano Martello, Rebekah Fenwick, Jonathan Pedley, Dr Julie King, David Williams, Garry Knox, Katie Greenyer, Zeph Logan, Amy Coulson and Nicholas Hanson for their efforts and expertise, we know they had a very hard job choosing the winners.
Thank you to our fantastic sponsors: NEXT, Paul Smith, Pentland Brands, GreenEarth Cleaning, ITL- Intelligent Label Solutions, ASBCI, Style 3D, Stoll GB, Nottingham BID, Victoria Centre, Print 4, The Textile Institute, Rex Gooding, Lace Market Hotel, Leicester College and Fur & Feather.
The awards was made even more special by our wonderful guest models from the Richard Whitehead Foundation. Thank you to Tayla, Lindsay and Amy for joining us on the catwalk, you were fantastic!
Gold Sponsors
Universities
