Make Your Mark in Fashion finalists dress to impress

Three teams of young people, whose inspirations ranged from burlesque to a clothes recycling scheme in Malawi, have beaten their peers to become finalists in the Make Your Mark in Fashion competition. The successful teams have won the chance to each be mentored by a top eco-fashion label and develop a new sustainable clothing range, which will be shown on the catwalk during the London Fashion Week in September 2008.

The nine fashion labels acting as judges and mentors for the competition - Ciel, Enamore, From Somewhere, Junky Styling, Juste, Liv, Makepiece, Terra Plana and The Hemp Trading Company (THTC) - had a tough job of selecting three winning teams from over 300 entries from young people aged 14-30. There was an eclectic mix of creative proposals from school groups, college teams and fashion professionals already in the work place. Eight short-listed teams were invited to London last week to pitch their ideas to the judges and the three finalists are:

• Berrie designing for Enamore. Deborah Luffman (27), Lisa Mcalinden (25) and Claire Alderdice (26).  Sharing Enamore’s passion for vintage styling, luxurious fabrics and sustainable practice, these three women want to harness the local resource of skilled machinists in the UK and Fairtrade co-operatives in Peru to create a fun and sexy range of clothing for women using inspiration from burlesque and 1950s pin ups
• Miawi designing for Junky Styling. Sisters Mia and Zoe Nisbet (27, 25), James Sichone (26) and Tuskile Wilkinson (24). The team, who have work experience in fashion and aid, noticed on a visit to Malawi the copious amounts of second-hand clothing donated from the USA being sold in the street markets.  Their inspiration is to recycle these clothes and add a Malawian twist to create a new fashion collection. They hope their idea will not only lead to a successful fashion business but also bring opportunities to the region
• R.A.J.E designing for The Hemp Trading Company. Sisters Abbie and Roanna Price (22, 17), Emily Coales (18) and Joey Instone (22). Taking inspiration from Japanese art and British wildlife, these young women want to produce clothing in seasonal colour ranges for different female body-shapes - the Lollipop, the Pear and the Apple. They want to create an eco-fashion range that will fit women properly and look great

The competition is run by the Make Your Mark campaign, which aims to unleash the UK’s enterprise potential, and supported by the Ethical Fashion Forum. Applicants were required to create a business proposal for one of the eco-fashion labels, taking into account every aspect of a successful collection from creative design and manufacture through to retail.

Deborah Luffman from Berrie summarised her team’s win. She says: “We are thrilled that Berrie has won; now we can take our vision of a sexy and feminine sustainable fashion label and turn it into a reality. We are also delighted to be working with Jenny at Enamore, who has already been incredibly supportive. Watch out world the Berrie girls are ready to make their mark!”

Jennifer Ambrose of Enamore, says: “Berrie submitted a bright, colourful entry and focused on the clothing I wanted to develop for Enamore. The team have a great skills base which is different to mine and therefore very complementary. I am really excited to be working with Berrie and I’m looking forward to coming back to London Fashion Week in September with new energy”.