(The following piece appeared in the Waltham Forest Guardian, Tuesday 30th June 2009)
WALTHAM Forest College was given a taste of the catwalk as fashion students staged their end-of-year show.
Flounces, frills and old socks all made appearances as models strutted their stuff on the runway on June 25.
With inspirations as diverse as Country Life magazine and the African savannah, the show ran the sartorial gamut, from street chic to evening wear.
In the “Make Do and Mend” category, first year fashion students stitched together old socks to create a range of shift dresses.
They also drew inspiration from TV series The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, based on the novel by Alexander McCall Smith. The result was a collection of multi-coloured leather waistcoats, worn over blouses, skirts and shorts in African-style prints.
Benita Odogwu-Atkinson, the college’s curriculum manager for fashion, textiles and media, said: “Each year we look at different cultures for our inspiration and this year I wanted to focus on the British culture. We aimed to produce the Burberry look, with a collection of outfits in tweed and woollen fabrics.”
Models from the I Feel Experience agency showed off the students' work, as well as friends, family, other students, and in some cases, the designers themselves.
First-year BTEC student Luqman Ali, 17, said he spent 12 hours making a dress from old socks.
“I have always had a passion for clothes,” he said. "When I was younger I used to watch my mother sew and it stemmed from that.”
Taking a two-year course in fashion and clothing, Luqman hopes to go to university to study design and plans to become a designer and model.
The show was staged at the college in Forest Road, Walthamstow on June 25, featuring from students from a variety of courses.
