The work of BA (Hons) Fashion students Daisie Jacobs and Taz Dorodi has been selected from submissions made by the UK’s leading university fashion courses for publication in The Guardian Weekend: The art and fashion issue.
This success comes in a bumper week for the BA (Hons) Fashion course with eight students, including Daisie and Taz, shortlisted for the Graduate Fashion Foundation Awards and all graduating Fashion Design students from this year's BA (Hons) Fashion showcased online as part of London Fashion Week. Plus, Taz Dorodis and Gracie D'Silva are featured on the GFF Talent platform.
As The Guardian Weekend's guest columnist, Daisie Jacobs shares her personal experiences about the triumphs and frustrations of graduating in the Covid-19 crisis. Her evocative reflections move from the hasty retreat back to her parent’s home and her childhood bedroom, through the challenges of staying motivated, roping in her family to model for her, to the context of completing her degree while her mum works in a hospital.
Image: Daisie Jacobs' editorial in The Guardian Weekend Art and Fashion Issue, 13 June 2020
The magazine also features a suit designed by Taz Dorodi that references the politics of women’s dress in Iran, where she grew up, and the restrictions placed on Iranian women. It is modelled by fellow Fashion student Maryam Ashfaq in one of Leeds' many parks. The trouser suit combines tailored features and the scarf, or hijab, worn by Iranian women. Taz was one of just five students whose designs were selected and photographed by The Guardian for the issue's fashion editorial.
Image: Taz Dorodi's design modelled by Maryam Ashfaq in The Guardian Weekend Art and Fashion Issue, 13 June 2020
The Graduate Fashion Foundation (GFF) teamed up with The Guardian Weekend to offer students the opportunity to see their work published in this special ‘Class of 2020’ art and fashion takeover. The partnership was established when it became clear that Covid-19 restrictions would prevent GFF from staging its annual Graduate Fashion Week event – the biggest and most important annual event for graduating fashion students launching their careers. This was coupled with the fact that, for this year’s cohort, digital degree shows have replaced traditional catwalk presentations of final year work.
And one of our students, Gracie D'Silva, even got to put a question to fashion royalty Victoria Beckham in the magazine's extensive interview with her.
Nicola Knight, BA (Hons) Fashion course leader, said: “It is a well-deserved achievement for Daisie and Taz to have been selected for the Graduate Fashion Foundation x The Guardian Weekend special issue. They were up against peers from fashion universities across the country and the standard of entries would have been extremely high. It is also very exciting to see so many of our students shortlisted for the GFF Awards. Congratulations to all.”
University tutors from GFF’s 38 member universities were asked to nominate two students each for the guest columnist opportunity and three for the photo shoot for final selection by The Guardian’s editorial team.
The eight students from Leeds Arts University shortlisted for the Graduate Fashion Foundation Awards are Daisie Jacobs and Emily Fraser for the Fashion Styling and Creative Direction Award; Maryam Ashfaq for the Digital Fashion Publication Award; Jasmine Jones and Pippa Lee for the Adaptation Award; Alarna Barry for the Fashion Range Plan Award; and Danielle Jupp and Lydia Claxton for the Fashion Technical Drawing Award.
The work of all students listed will feature in Leeds Arts University Show 2020, online from 1 July.