Art
The 3rd Midland Fashion Designers Awards will be taking place in Birmingham on Saturday October 23rd.
Established in 2008, the show is the brainchild of Jenny Eason, who is a fashion enthusiast and immensely keen to flag up the burgeoning creative talent that is seeping through the Midlands fashion scene.
The awards provide the prefect platform for fledgling designers says Jenny, “The Midlands Fashion Designer Awards is a non-profit organisation whose aim is to celebrate the wealth of creative talent we have across the Midlands region. The annual event offers the opportunity for up and coming designers to gain exposure and access to a wide range of expertise and networking opportunities not only to the general public and fashion enthusiasts attending, but to fashion industry professionals and the press who attend the event”.
Like with many events of this type, they have a history of providing a stepping stone into the hugely competitive fashion industry “Designers who have participated in previous events have gone onto employment in the fashion industry while others have gained placements with established designers. Several designers have been scouted via Vancouver fashion week in Canada”.
Principally it is a showcase for new designers, but the awards also act as a facilitator for models, who are generally in the embryonic stages of their careers.
One such model, who has been selected for the Autumnal gala, is, Victoria Lownes, 27, from Cannock, Staffordshire, who has been modelling for three years in a variety of modelling engagements, including an appearance as an extra on Hollyoaks.
Victoria understands that the designers are the primary stars of the show, but is aware of how crucial this event could be for her own modelling dreams. “As an aspiring model, this is a great event to be involved in to gain experience, and it will also provide me with the opportunity to support local talent in the fashion industry. The awards provide a competitive mechanism for Midlands based designers to gain exposure and valuable experience and I feel privileged to be part of such a prestigious event”.
Having done a few catwalk shows across the UK, Victoria is excited, although a little apprehensive about the fast-speed environment of catwalk shows. “I enjoy having the opportunity to wear and promote new clothing designs which have been created by talented and innovative designers. Catwalk shows are pretty nerve-wracking events, being on show in front of hundreds of spectators is scary and speedy clothing changes can be stressful, but they are a lot of fun and I get an amazing adrenaline buzz from them afterwards!
Male and female models will be used by the designers; a casting took place in September in Birmingham, which produced roughly half of the models who will take part on October 23rd, in a show lasting around the four- hour mark.
An event like this which provides an important function deserves to be cherished, as in a voraciously competitive industry, shows like this present the ideal training ground for budding fashionistas’ and models who dream of being the next Elle McPherson.
We've uploaded a selection of our Glastonbury 2009 shots and will be adding many more galleries of live music, events and art over the coming weeks.
