Focus on fashion: From Winchester to the world

In 2024, the global spotlight fell on alumni from Winchester School of Art (WSA).

In a notoriously competitive industry, two of our fashion graduates, Jiayi Lin (BA Fashion Design, 2022) and Alice Daggett (BA Fashion Design, 2024), were celebrated for their creations in China – a rising influence on the world’s fashion stage.

Alice Daggett

Fashion design graduate Alice had a stellar graduation year, winning the top prize at London’s Graduate Fashion Week. Described as ‘the world’s largest showcase of BA fashion talent’, the show – staged at The Truman Brewery in East London – announced Alice as the gold award winner of their ‘Best of 2024’ competition.

Alice, from Harrogate, was inspired by her Yorkshire heritage and upbringing: “From a young age, I’ve loved women’s fashion and unique fabrics. Everything I design is to enable women to feel empowered through garments with timeless elegance. Most of what I design is inspired by what is around me.”

On winning, Alice says: “It’s an honour to be awarded with the Gold Award at Graduate Fashion Week, I’ve been surrounded by an incredible team of peers, tutors and a support system who’ve got me here today.”

Sharon Williams, programme lead for BA Fashion Design, says: “We are delighted that the judges recognised Alice’s highly resolved collection. Alice was heavily influenced by sustainability, and a second-year project called Future You, Future Fashion, which we run every year with The Salvation Army. The charity donates surplus fabric – anything from old coats to blankets – and our students have full creative freedom to upcycle the materials into something wearable. Inspired by this project and her rural Yorkshire upbringing, Alice utilised rugs, tablecloths and curtains in her collection.”

Her designs went on to be featured in WGSN, a highly influential, world-leading trend forecaster.

Following her Graduate Fashion Week success, Alice was invited to showcase her work at the Winland Gallery in M50, Shanghai, a contemporary art district that houses a community of more than a hundred artists and open studios, often compared with New York’s SoHo and Beijing’s 798 Art Zone.

There, University of Southampton delegates were joined by members of our Shanghai alumni network, key business partners including the British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai, prospective students and other creatives who studied at WSA.

Jiayi ‘Maggie’ Lin

In September, graduate Jiayi Lin showcased her work at Beijing Fashion Week as part of the event’s Young Designer Support Programme. The programme is committed to nurturing new talent, giving 15 Chinese designers from across the world’s top art and design schools a significant breakthrough in their careers.

From Elle to Vogue, the event was covered by top Chinese fashion press and on television, with Jiayi Lin’s unique designs viewed by an audience of millions.

On leaving WSA, Jiayi Lin went on to successfully graduate with an MA in Textile Design from the Royal College of Art, whilst simultaneously setting up and now running her own knit studio in Guangzhou, China.

Jiayi Lin is now a mentor to current third year BA Fashion Design students. “We make a point of inviting our graduates back at timely stages after they leave WSA, from their MA right through to a decades-long career,” Sharon Williams explains. “These touch points give students an incredible understanding of a graduate’s true, lived experience, and they speak with insight that is so relevant.”

A formula for success

There’s no doubt that Alice and Jiayi Lin’s creativity and determination have been the driving force behind their achievements. But, as Sharon Williams explains, WSA’s fashion design programme is purposefully designed to set students up for success, “From day one, all our fashion students are taught using a circular design system, from concept right through to creation, while also thinking about promotion and marketing.

“Year two is all about industry skills and we have live projects, where our students work on a designer’s brief, understanding and adopting a design aesthetic that might be quite different to their own.

“In their third year, students take an employability module where we connect them with graduates and career advisors working in the country they’d like to break into.”

For China, we work with recruitment organisations and specialists who produce podcasts and videos for our students, so they know exactly what to expect.”

There’s also the opportunity within the programme for students to spend a year working in industry, which, as Sharon explains, “Alice really made the most of. She worked with a sustainable, slow fashion brand called The Well Worn. Through her placement, she was introduced to ethical manufacturing, and the process of making a cohesive collection. She then utilised her final year to build her brand and image, so by the time she graduated everything was in place – she had a lookbook, everything was ready.”

Find your local alumni network

Our global alumni networks bring together local alumni who have a shared Southampton connection, many of them in the creative industries. As well as being a platform to network and share advice and expertise with peers, they provide opportunities to support prospective and current students, and new graduates.

Join your network