Big win for student at Best of Graduate Fashion Week and Exhibition Award Show

Third year BA (Hons) Fashion Buying and Brand Management student Jainelly Portocarrero Torres has been awarded The Considered Design Award Powered by Farfetch at the Best of Graduate Fashion Week and Exhibition Award Show.

Jainelly was presented the award by Caryn Franklin MBE, former Fashion Editor and Co-Editor of i-D Magazine, for her sustainable womenswear brand ‘Re-up’.

Having identified fashion consumers’ increasing awareness and concern around environmental issues through her research, Jainelly created Re-up with the mission of extending the natural lifecycle of clothing. The project aims to slow down fast fashion by providing upcycling services whereby customers can send their garments back to Re-up every three months for the designs to be refreshed.

The Best of Graduate Fashion Week also saw BA (Hons) Fashion student Cristiana Alagna among 28 selected for a final showcase of the standout talent from all the institutions exhibiting at the catwalk shows. Her collection, ‘/Error 404/’ originates from the idea of a mistake, incorporating the unintended ‘to create a dream-like illusion, deceiving the eye, and leaving to the viewer the job of seeing what he or she wants in the garments’.

Commenting, Gabrielle Shiner-Hill, Course Leader for BA (Hons) Fashion Buying and Brand Management said: “Jainelly has worked extremely hard during her time at Ravensbourne, from foundation through until graduating this year. As a student she has always shown an interest in sustainability and was even sponsored to travel to Bangladesh and work with a fabric mill in her second year. Her sustainable business proposal Re-up was fully formed and the complete package presented really impressed the judges. We are thrilled that the course is aligning so closely with industry requirements and this award is a great achievement for Jainelly and the course team.”

Commenting, Lee Lapthorne, Programme Director for the Department of Fashion said: “I am thrilled to learn about Jainelly’s success at the Best of Graduate Fashion Week and Exhibitions Awards Show. She not only presented a thoroughly researched, viable business proposal with the potential for commercial success, but has found an innovative solution to one of the fashion industry’s biggest challenges.”

Attracting around 30,000 guests each year, Graduate Fashion Week showcases the work of students from over 40 universities from around the world at their stands and an exciting schedule of catwalk shows. Find out more at Graduate Fashion Week.