Design student OLIVIA MCCREADY
A DESIGNER from Barbour has praised the work of fashion design students who recreated outfits using fabrics donated by the brand.
Ella Nisbett visited the University of Sunderland to see first-hand tailoring work by third-year students on the BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Promotion programme.
She said: “With Barbour being a heritage brand, we have a lot of people who interoperate it differently, here it is clear the students at the University of Sunderland respected it and provided some great ideas”.
The fashion house donated fabrics for the project and students researched the brand, and its heritage, before designing pieces using their own individual flair.
Olivia McCready conceptualised and crafted a coordinated two-piece skirt suit, comprising a jacket with a corduroy collar, tortoiseshell buttons, and embellished with pink flowers along its lining. Notably, McCready sourced the flowers from her Grandmother’s garden, carefully recreating them through freehand drawing. Subsequently, she incorporated the floral design by printing it on the pockets of her jacket as well as the jacket lining.
She said: “I loved being able to use flowers from my grandmother’s garden as part of my design as it made it feel more sentimental.
“Since taking part in this project Barbour has definitely become one of my favourite brands within the fashion industry, the brand has a classy, old-fashioned charm coupled with new trendy styles.”
Barbour has a retail presence in over 55 countries worldwide including the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Holland, Austria, France, Italy, Argentina, New Zealand and Japan.
Ella, who attended the design showcase with colleague Lauren Dryden, said: “The core DNA at Barbour runs through every design we see here on display here and it is great to see their great ideas too.”
Barbour, a globally known fashion brand, originated in South Shields, in 1894, and is well-known for its wax jackets. It has a long-standing relationship with the university with many fashion students securing placements and employment at the South Shields headquarters. These include Megan Hagel, a graduate of the BA (Hons) Fashion Journalism programme, who now works as a Global SEO and Content Executive at Barbour.
