Lindsay makes grand designs for future

Jan 31 2009 by Liz Lamb, The Journal

A STUDENT from the North East has won the first-ever fashion apprenticeship with the prestigious Italian fashion label MaxMara.

Lindsay Marsh, 22, from Heaton, Newcastle, beat 189 other contestants from across the UK to win the British Fashion Council MaxMara award with a prize of a five-month paid placement at the firm’s headquarters in Reggio Emilia in Italy.

The company, founded in 1951, is one of the largest women’s pret-a-porter manufacturers in the world, with 23 different brands sold in more than 90 countries.

Today, Lindsay, a final year fashion student at Northumbria University, was still recovering from the news that she had won the coveted prize, which will see her working for the label from July to November.

She said: “It’s unbelievable, I am just coming back down to earth.

“I really can’t believe it. It’s fantastic. It could not get any better.

“I never expected to win because the standard of the other entries was so high.

“It’s such an amazing opportunity to start off life after university with the opportunity of a job with MaxMara especially in the current climate when there aren’t many jobs. It’s such a relief to feel I have got something to go to and it’s such a great experience.”

The MaxMara award was born out of the British Fashion Council’s college open days, which aim to create employment opportunities for UK fashion graduates, and the competition was designed to challenge emerging design talent to take on a project that would lead to work experience and the possibility of a long-term contract.

Students from 22 UK colleges were required to develop a capsule collection of eight looks suitable for pushing forward the direction of one of MaxMara’s key womenswear ranges.

Lindsay’s winning entry was based on a range of luxury, multi-purpose knitted dresses, tunics and trousers using cotton, paper and crepe-viscose yarns as well as coats in merino wool.

The student, who is originally from Richmond, North Yorkshire, also won a £2,000 cash prize plus £5,000 for Northumbria University. Two other students took second and third prizes and will join her in Italy.

Christopher Hodge, programme leader for fashion at Northumbria University, said: “We are thrilled and excited that Lindsay has won the first ever British Fashion Council MaxMara award.

“Lindsay is a rare student who’s creative ability and intense fashion vision are only rivaled by her drive to innovate and her dedication to progressing her study. She has a very strong technical appreciation for knitwear and a lovely feel for shape.

“Her work is both highly complex in its conceptual level and also exquisite in it’s minimalist aesthetic.

“She has a natural feeling for fabrics and yarn. We are certain that she will profit from her placement in Italy.”

Maria Ludovica Maramotti, of MaxMara, said: “Although all three winners showed exceptional creativity, Lindsay Marsh, in particular, has astounded the panel with the integrity of her approach.”