Hartlepool students get lesson in fashion at Paris trade show

CCAD degree students Jess Breckill, Adele Catchpole, Ruth Envy and Kelly Peters with their designs which were exhibited at the Premiere Visions design show

Cleveland College of Art & Design played its own part at the Premiere Vision Designs event, which is the leading show for creative textiles and surface designs.

It’s the place where new fashion and textile talents are sought and is held in Paris. It gave students from Cleveland College of Art and Design’s Hartlepool campus a chance to showcase their work produced as part of their course.

CCAD BTEC students Elizabeth Rose, Sian Charlton and Emma Hayes also won the chance to show their designs at the Paris trade show

Four second-year students from the textiles and surface design degree helped to design, set up and man the college’s stand as an enhancement to their studies.

Designs were on sale from the students attending the show as well as work from other selected students from the course.

Adele Catchpole, 21, showed potential buyers samples as well as selling designs, including her own.

She said: “I really enjoyed seeing the work of other designers, the vibe of the trade show and how it all works.”

Fellow fashion and textiles student Jess Breckill, 20, made her second visit to the show. She said: “I was excited for this visit as I actually worked on the stand, and enjoyed selling the students’ designs and handling customers.”

Ruth Envy, 20, a surface design student, worked for the first time on the CCAD stand, where she met fellow designers and created new contacts.

She said: “I couldn’t wait to work at Premiere Vision in Paris and had a great time exhibiting my designs, which were based on hidden beauty and the potential in the overlooked and ordinary, such as plastic bags stuck in trees. The show helped me to get my name out there as a designer and create interest in my work.”

Some students studying for a BTEC diploma in fashion and textiles at the college’s campus in Middlesbrough were also invited to join the experience.

As part of the course, they worked on a linked project with the college’s Hartlepool campus and submitted a series of designs, with a chance to have their work taken to the show. Three students won and saw their own designs digitally printed on fabric to be exhibited at the exhibition.