A TALENTED young fashion designer has had her creations showcased on a national stage.

Student Courtney Blades, 21, from Bedlington, Northumberland, saw some of her outfits on the catwalk at the final of a prestigious competition.

The final year fashion student at the University of Derby entered the annual Alfa Romeo Young Designers’ Award and designed a collection of four dresses and a skirt and top with a children’s fairytale theme.

And she used ink block printing and incorporated colours from the iconic Alfa Romeo brand and badge to form the focus of her creations. Courtney beat off the challenge of hundreds of others across the UK to win her way through.

She and four others were invited to the final at the annual St Andrew’s University charity fashion show in Scotland on Saturday where Courtney presented her collection of fashion outfits to a panel of judges.

Finalists then had their collections modelled in front of a 1,000-strong audience, at what is the UK’s biggest and most prestigious student-run fashion show.

The winner stood to collect a £1,000 prize, a £500 grant to design a charity T-shirt range and a summer internship with a leading fashion house.

Courtney missed out on first place but was still able to enjoy seeing her work showed off. She said: “I did not win but it was fun. I am happy for the people who won.

“It is just about the experience of it really at the end of the day. It was good to see my collection on the catwalk as well.”

Courtney, whose parents Jacqui and Paul Blades live in Bedlington, Northumberland, wants to be a fashion designer with a leading high street chain and hopes her success in the competition will help get her noticed and pave the way to a career.

The former student at Bedlington High School had to fill in a questionnaire about what fashion means to her, design a five-outfit collection in line with the awards theme – Fragments of the Imagination – and present her ideas to a panel in London.

Speaking before the final, she said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for me which could open so many doors. I believe a lot of high-up people in the fashion industry attend the St Andrews show so it will be great to have my collection seen.

“I’ve had a lot of support and help from my university, and it’s been a great process seeing my designs come to life.

“It has been a really good experience because I’ve never made my own collection before.”

This is the third year that the show has joined forces with Alfa Romeo to create a platform for emerging young designers. The event was actually made famous by Kate Middleton.

The future Duchess of Cambridge first caught Prince William’s eye when she was one of the catwalk models at the show in 2002.

The couple were studying the same history of art course at Scotland’s oldest university.