At the 2025 University of Northampton Degree Show, fashion students placed leather front and centre in their collections, with awards presented by the Leathersellers.
Second-year students spent their spring semester working on a live industry project in collaboration with YKK.
Working in small, consultancy-style teams across fashion, textiles and footwear pathways, students were tasked with designing, developing and producing a cohesive mini-collection. Each group created three complete looks, incorporating garments and a bag or accessory relevant to their specialism.
The brief challenged students to prioritise creativity, innovation and functionality, encouraging them to push design boundaries while meeting real-world industry expectations.
To support their work, students received materials bursaries from The Leathersellers’ Company. For many, this was their first experience working with leather. Dedicated workshops were provided to build skills and confidence in applying leather to fashion outcomes.
Dougie Evans and Twahira Mohammed were each awarded the Second Year Leathersellers’ Award for Best Use of Leather.
Final year highlights
Eve Kempen, a final-year Textiles for Fashion student, used leather in her graduate collection in a highly creative and artistic way. She explored techniques such as wet moulding and hand-painting, resulting in a sculptural, lace-embellished leather corset with a distinctive, body-forming silhouette. Eve was awarded The Leathersellers’ Final Year Award for Best Use of Leather.
Fashion student Connie Hankins also featured leather in her final collection, repurposing end-of-life materials to explore themes inspired by the Dark Ages. Through experimental processes including leather and chain crochet, she created dramatic, textured garments that demonstrated both strong technical ability and conceptual vision. Connie received the Leathersellers’ Final Year Runner-Up Award for Best Use of Leather.
京公网安备 11010202009378号
