🚧 NSCG | Fashion through the ages at intu Potteries
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3rd March 2019

Throughout its 31-year-old history as a shopping centre, it is safe to say that intu Potteries has seen lots of fashion trends come and go through the ages. This Spring/Summer season the centre has worked with 24 first year students from Newcastle College, who are currently studying BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Fashion, as part of an exciting live brief.

Intu Potteries Green Collection

Linking in with their coursework students were given the task to create fashion garments based on the following fashion eras: 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.

From Monday 4 March to Sunday 31 March, shoppers can see the students designs displayed on mannequins by River Island, alongside photographs of the making process which they have been working on since last November.

Sandrine Rutter, Marketing Manager said, “This is a wonderful experience for the students to work to a live brief whilst still studying for their diploma. Their designs will be seen by over half a million shoppers visiting the centre throughout the month of March and we will be running a Facebook competition where people can vote for their favourite design”.

As part of the partnership between intu Potteries and Newcastle College, the students presented their designs to a panel of judges made up of; intu Potteries marketing team, Simon Forrester, Debenhams womenswear manager at intu Potteries, Carol Thomas, Curriculum Director of NSCG, and Mike Kelly, Group Head of Creative Arts and Media. The students were asked to give a short presentation about their research and their design. For each fashion era a winner was picked and received a ÂŁ100 intu Gift Card.

Judge Simon Forrester said, “After working in the fashion retail industry for almost 20 years it’s been interesting to see how the students translated the task given to them to make an outfit that is suited to their target customer, but also commercially for today’s current market. I was really impressed by the preparation put in and seeing the end results. They certainly didn’t give us an easy task in picking our winners. Some designs were to such an impressive level that I could see some of these outfits as ready to sell in certain retailers at intu Potteries”.

Natasha Hughes, course leader for Extended Diploma in Fashion said, “The project with intu Potteries is a fantastic opportunity for our students to take on an exciting and creative live brief in the world of fashion, giving them the chance to put the skills they’ve learnt in the classroom into action and showcase their talents. All our fashion students have worked incredibly hard on the project, putting countless hours into researching each era, exploring new techniques, fabrics and collaborating with photography students on a fashion shoot at the old Spode Factory in Stoke-on-Trent to really bring the brief to life.”