As part of Graduate Fashion Week the initiative will showcase collections from international universities. Taking place on 7th June at Earls Court, the event will host a catwalk show with this year’s best up and coming graduates from across the globe.

All students in the International Show are put forward for the International Award. The GFW catwalk will feature the work of students from Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI), AMD Munich (Akademie Mode and Design), Academy of Art and Design Institute Switzerland, LASALLE Singapore and Saint-Petersburg State University of Technology and Design.

Judges of the River Island Gold Award will attend the show and be looking for three students to shortlist for the newly created International Award. The chosen three will have their collections featured in both Gala Shows and one student will be presented with the first International Award at Gala Show 2 on 9th June. The winner is eligible for the River Island Gold Award worth 20,000 pounds.

“This is a very exciting new development for Graduate Fashion Week. In recent years more and more of GFW’s member universities have set up faculties overseas (e.g. UCLAN in India and Northumbria in Hong Kong). The exporting of British fashion education has become an important tool for our universities to raise funds and their profile on an international scale. We hope that by introducing international universities to GFW, we will help raise the profile of their courses in the UK, and providing UK graduates an opportunity to consider doing an MA overseas,” comments June Barker, Director Graduate Fashion Week.

Image: GFW campaign by Rankin