Alvanon helps fashion design graduates put on show stopping display

08 Jun '11

4 min read

Final year students from University College Falmouth's Performance Sportswear Design and Fashion Design BA honours courses put on a stunning graduate show that included 81 'dressed' technical fit forms supplied by apparel fit expert, Alvanon. Falmouth's graduate show, held at The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London, opened with a private viewing evening sponsored by Alvanon that attracted over 200 guests and included such influential names as Adidas, Uniqlo and I-D Magazine. The final collections were all designed using AlvaForm fit mannequins.

Falmouth committed to using AlvaForms in its studios three years ago in order to put professional technical tools in student hands and prepare them for successful careers within the fashion industry. Falmouth now has 126 AlvaForms in its design studios - the largest academic user of AlvaForms in the world.

Jane Gottelier, programme leader Performance Sportswear Design, University College Falmouth, explained: “Our students have pushed technical boundaries with their final year designs. The AlvaForms have given them the most realistic mannequins in the world with which to create their designs; they are a proper modern shape and true to the contemporary human form. To display their work at the graduate show, each student dressed three AlvaForms and the result had the visual impact of a spectacular art installation – we were absolutely delighted with the response we have had from our industry guests.”

The highlights of the student collections included menswear designs from Catherine Wildey, Jack Gullechsen, Haden Gaynor and Sophie Hawkins. Performance Sportswear Design students Annaleigh Hockaday, Lynsey Campbell and Hazel Wakefield and Fashion Design course students Pippa Williams, Chloe Reynolds and Jessie Metcalf also made a big impression.

Alvanon, recently launched its global academic programme to help apparel design students establish a comprehensive knowledge and appreciation of customised fit processes, strategies and standards, enabling them to design better fitting clothes. Alvanon's academic programme gives design universities and colleges access to the apparel industry's most advanced sizing, fit and communication tools at significantly discounted rates.

The programme includes master classes in consumer sizing research and analysis by renowned apparel fit experts and the use of customised design fit forms for pattern making, draping and fitting classes. In addition to the University College Falmouth Alvanon supplies its AlvaForms to Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, London College of Fashion, De Montfort University and Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK and the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. It also supplies forms to Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Clothing Industry Training Authority in Hong Kong.

Through its three integrated divisions, AlvaInsight, AlvaForm and AlvaBlock, Alvanon offers practical solutions that enable its clients to achieve fit consistently and continuously from design through to consumer. AlvaInsight is its 'front end' strategic consulting division comprising fashion and retail industry experts who draw upon apparel business insight, technical design expertise, rigorous statistical analysis and practical experience to help clients define their target markets' specific fit criteria.

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