COMPETITIONS

These links will take you to the current competitions that may be of interest to you. They will involve press coverage and often cash (or art material) prizes.
Do not enter these directly you must enter through your course tutor.
Coca Cola Fashion competition

City of Culture Fashion Competition- OFF THE CUFF

OFF THE CUFF

The Brief

2013 sees Derry/Londonderry take on the mantle of UK City of Culture. In its rich history proudly sits its association with shirt making, having been the world leader in manufacturing shirts right up until the late 1990’s.

With this in mind, North West Regional College, in partnership with the Culture Company, is hosting a design competition for college students.

The theme for the competition, inspired by shirt making, is ‘Off the cuff’. 

Shirt making in the city began in the 1850’s and was mainly carried out in the homes of workers before companies such as Tillie and Henderson and Welch Margetson opened factories, employing mostly women, in the late 1850’s.  By 1936 it was reported that 31 factories were in operation in the city. It continued to be the major employer in the city up until the early 1970’s when cheaper foreign imports began to contribute to the demise of the local manufacturing.  By 1979 there were only 14 shirt factories in Derry/Londonderry.  Presently there are only two existing.

Any aspect of the shirt making industry can be the stimulus for the design and you should not be too constrained by the overarching theme. There’s lots of written and AV material available for you to explore to find an interesting story or angle as the starting point for your design. You might want to consider the songs that were sung as the women worked, the camaraderie and friendships formed or the hum of the machines and steam of the pressing irons.  Think of the countries with which trade links were established or from which the pigment for the coloured dyes were imported. All these and more can be factored into the design processes.

The Competition

There are two sections

·         Wearable Fashion

·         Accessories

1       Wearable Fashion

Those wishing to make up a garment for wearing should enter this category.  Any means of multimedia construction for example print, knit, weave, tapestry or embroidery may be used.

1                   Accessories

Within this section footwear, headgear, eyewear, jewellery or bags may be entered.

Who can enter?

Within in each section there are two categories – one for those on L3 courses (Diploma A&D or Foundation A&D) and one for those studying on HE courses (HNC, HND, Found Degree or degree).

Art students from all the colleges in N Ireland are invited to submit entries as are those from NWRC’s partner colleges in Glasgow and Germany.

Each college must make its own internal selection. NWRC will accept only 4 entries per category from each college for the L3 entries and three from each college per HE category.

Rules and regulations

All entries should be physical pieces, accompanied by a 100 word statement on the how the brief was interpreted to arrive at the final execution.

A signed statement indicating the work is entirely that of the entrant/s is also required.

Final decision about the winners in each category and section will be decided at a public event when work submitted will be shown on the catwalk on Thursday, 7 March 2013.  As the garments will be shown on the catwalk, all pieces for females should be size 10 and for males, size 30/32 waist, 34/36 chest , 6 ft tall.

A judging panel including an eminent designer will choose the winners, and their decisions will be final.

All submissions will be returned to the entrant, but photos of the designs and their IP remain the property of NWRC.

The prizes

College first prize £250 x 4 categories                         £1,000

College second prize £100 x 4 categories                    £   400

Best from partner college                                           £   250

Best in show                                                                   £   300

Perpetual challenge trophies  x 10                                     £1,500

Medals for prize winners                                                            £   240*

Certificates for all participants                                       £   120

                                           Total                                      £3810

Outside of the competition on the night of the showcase, it is proposed to show the fashion products of some of the North West’s young Fashion Designers including Christopher Reid, Liam Grier and others.

Proposed timeline for Competition May 2012 to April 2013

25 May 2012                    Competition agreed by SMT NWRC and Culture Company

31 May                              Expressions of interest back from colleges

22 June 2012                    Approaches made for Company sponsorship of awards

22 June 2012                    Competition brief issued.

29 June 2012                    Application made to Culture Company for financial support for

·         hiring models for catwalk events/s,

·         costs associated with the exhibition and cat-walk event including hiring a venue.          

31 January 2013              Assemble judging panels

31 August 2012               Devise clear judging criteria for each of the  2 categories

25 February 2013           Final date for physical entries for each category from each college to be with NWRC

6 March 2013                   Dress rehearsal

7  March 2013                  Catwalk event and awards ceremony

7 March 2013                   All competition entries returned to owners

5 April 2013                     All financial aspects of project completed and administrator’s job complete.