Graduates prepare fashion collections for Sri Lanka Design Festival

Four graduates from University College Falmouth (UCF) have jetted to Sri Lanka having been asked to spend three months designing full fashion collections that will be produced and showcased at the Sri Lanka Design Festival (SLDF) Fashion Show in November, with all expenses paid.

Michelle Gardiner, Irene Pascoe and Eleanor Glen graduated this summer from Falmouth's BA(Hons) Fashion Design course whilst Lily Rice received her degree in BA(Hons) Performance Sportswear Design at the same time. The invitation to work within a key fashion manufacturing industry is not only great news for UCF but also for fashion design in Cornwall, with Michelle, Irene and Lily from St Austell, Truro and Redruth respectively.

This is the second Sri Lanka Design Festival Fashion Show with numerous prestigious fashion houses, leaders of the global design and ethical movements, and international companies attending, giving the graduates an invaluable opportunity to make key industry contacts. Running for 10 days, this year's theme is Design Difference with a special focus on authentic Sri Lankan Fashion, Design and Crafts.

This trip has arisen following the involvement and dedication of Jane Gottelier, Course leader of BA(Hons) Fashion Design and Performance Sportswear Design who has mentored, advised and taught in the Fashion Department at the Academy of Fashion and Design in Sri Lanka and who will be keeping in touch with the interns, acting as their mentor and finally flying out to see their creations in November at the Show.

Jane Gottelier commented: "This is a fantastic opportunity for Falmouth Fashion Graduates to show off their impressive design talents in front of an international fashion industry audience. It will give them a unique opportunity to network and further their careers, as well as putting the Falmouth Fashion and Performance Sportswear programme truly on the global map."

Following their arrival in Sri Lanka the graduates have been treated to three days in a luxury hotel before starting work on their collections at M.A.S, one of South Asia's leading apparel manufacturers that supplies Marks & Spencer, Next, Diesel, Nike, Speedo and Marc Jacobs among others.

Whilst at Falmouth, Irene Pascoe from Truro, who went to school at Penair and Cornwall College, specialized in architectural swimwear with glinting mirrors, high legs and embellished necklines inspired by the Chrysler Building in New York and the Art Deco era. She will be working on a swimwear and cover up collection with Linear Aqua within the M.A.S Holdings group.

Prior to leaving Irene said: "I am very excited about this wonderful opportunity to work in Sri Lanka with a reputable swimwear company. My time spent at University College Falmouth gave me an opportunity to explore many different areas within the fashion and apparel industry. I feel extremely fortunate to have this opportunity as I have always wanted a career in the fashion industry, I love travelling and have always wanted to work internationally."

Eleanor Glen from Dorchester, Dorset, works with embellished leather, studs and delicate beads with her degree work inspired by Samurai armour. She will be focusing on a collection utilising leather whilst exploring further her beautifully intricate handcrafting skills.

Michelle Gardiner was schooled at Brannels, St Austell and will be working at M.A.S Intimates on an underwear collection that she hopes will be "a bit less about lace and a bit more bold" than the standard lingerie offering. Her work at Falmouth was a successful hybrid of fashion and sportswear intent on not sacrificing functionality for fashion, or vice versa.

Lily Rice, who attended Redruth School, will design a women's sportswear range within M.A.S Active. Her female football kit collection designed for her degree combined comfort, style and a sexy edge and proved that women can look good in football kit.

"As part of Falmouth's first graduating class in Performance Sportswear Design I am very excited to not only represent University College Falmouth but Cornwall to an international audience." commented Lily Rice, "The festival is such a unique opportunity that I am delighted to have been chosen and very thrilled to be able to showcase the skill and knowledge I have learnt during my degree. I am very much looking forward to visiting the factories and discovering more about Sri Lanka's manufacturing capabilities."

Sri Lanka's fashion industry employs over a million people (5% of the population) and competes internationally as leading ethical and sustainable businesses, under the banner Garments without Guilt. High-tech factories produce work of the highest workmanship whilst adhering to strict green and social responsibilities, providing, for example, doctor's surgeries and crèches on site. M.A.S Intimates is one of the greenest factories in the world, sporting rainwater capture tanks, cement stabilised bricks made of local materials, anaerobic digesters and water saving sculpted landscape.

The SLDF is organized by the Academy of Design and sponsored by M.A.S Holdings with the support of the Sri Lankan government and will be held from 11-17 November.

For further information about BA(Hons) Fashion Design or BA(Hons) Performance Sportswear Design  at University College Falmouth, visit www.falmouth.ac.uk/fashiondesign or www.falmouth.ac.uk/performancesportswear, email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01326 213852.

University College Falmouth is the only independent Higher Education institution in Cornwall with the right to award degrees in its own name.  UCF has two campuses - at Woodlane in Falmouth and Tremough in Penryn (which it owns and jointly manages with the University of Exeter).

UCF's merger with Dartington College of Arts in 2008 created a new institution focusing on the expansion of Falmouth's expertise in Art, Design and Media and Dartington's expertise in Dance, Music, Theatre, Art and Writing.  The Dartington-based courses are relocating to Cornwall this summer to a high-specification £19M Performance Centre at the Tremough Campus that will launch in September 2010, paving the way for the creation of a new specialist Arts University in Cornwall by 2013/2014 that will be unique to the South West.

UCF is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education, funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One and Convergence), the South West Regional Development Agency and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall Council.

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For further information about University College Falmouth, please contact Jilly Easterby Dip CIPR MCIPR, Head of Public Affairs, Telephone: 01326 213792, or email:  jilly.easterby@falmouth.ac.uk

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