UCLan student’s fashion design catches eye of popular retailer

24 June 2019

Roxanne wins FatFace national competition

A University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) student will soon see her fashion design for sale on the high street after winning a national competition set by popular fashion brand FatFace.

Roxanne Hoare, who is in the final year of a fashion design degree, was crowned one of two winners of the FatFace Graphic T-Shirt Competition at the annual Graduate Fashion Week in London.

The 21-year-old from Arnside beat off stiff competition from more than 100 applicants from universities all over the country when her t-shirt design of a tranquil countryside scene was chosen to be included as part of the retailer’s 2019 autumn collection.

Students were asked to design a t-shirt for FatFace that was in line with the brand. Judges were looking for entries that showed “something fresh” and demonstrated an “understanding of the brand and its heritage.”

Roxanne was announced as one of the winners during Graduate Fashion Week. She said: “I still can't believe I actually won this award, it's definitely given me a confidence boost. I think it will be great achievement to put on my CV but also a push in the right direction.”

"From researching into future trends, I found that oil paintings of countryside scenes were a strong trend for Autumn. I decided to try paint an idyllic scene as I felt reflected a lot of FatFace's customers who are adventurous, spontaneous and fun."

For the competition, Roxanne had to submit research and design inspiration boards as well as show how her design would look on a crew neck t-shirt. As she was already hand painting some of the designs in her final year collection at university, the competition came just at the right time for the ambitious designer.

She said: “From researching into future trends, I found that oil paintings of countryside scenes were a strong trend for Autumn. I decided to try paint an idyllic scene as I felt reflected a lot of FatFace's customers who are adventurous, spontaneous and fun with a love for the outdoors.”

Roxanne, who completed a work placement at womenswear shop Tulchan near Kirkby Lonsdale during her studies, won £250 prize money and the chance to meet the FatFace design team. Her winning design will soon be available to by in selected FatFace stores nationwide and online at fatface.com

Roxanne will graduate from UCLan in July and has her sights set on a career within the fashion design industry.