Member Article

Finalists announced for prestigious Handcraft Tailor Scholarship Award

The shortlist for the inaugural Handcraft Tailor Scholarship Award competition has been revealed, with nine students having been selected to proceed to the final stages of judging.

Launched last year as a collaboration between the Handcraft Tailor Academy, Dugdale Bros & Co., Association of Suppliers to the British Clothing Industry (ASBCI) and The Textile Institute, the scholarship competition will see the winning entrant embarking on a 12-week summer tailoring course in Monaghan, Ireland, from June to August, under the tutelage of Rory Duffy – Master Tailor and former Golden Shears Award winner.

Open to students across the UK and Ireland enrolled on tailoring, fashion, costume design and fine art courses, the standard of applications was extremely high – showcasing a great deal of creative and technical talent.

With the top nine entrants having now been carefully selected by Robert Charnock – chairman of Huddersfield cloth merchant Dugdale Bros and Co. – and industry-renowned tailor Alan Cannon Jones, these students will proceed to the final assessment stage of the competition.

Three entrants from Limerick School of Art & Design have been shortlisted – Anna O’Doherty, Louise Marchard and Hong Zhang – alongside Jakub Lipjanec and Ffion Wym Williams from the University of South Wales, Joel Yip from London College of Fashion, Kiera Robinson from Sheffield Hallam University, Dominic Browning from Leeds Beckett University and Morgane Krischer from Westminster University.

Commenting on the shortlisted entries, Robert Charnock said: “The calibre of applications has been extremely high, and we were impressed with the level of skill, creativity and dedication demonstrated by all students who entered. The hard work put in by all entrants must be applauded.

“The whole idea behind the competition is to bridge the gap between education and industry, and all the finalists have demonstrated that they can effectively transfer the techniques they have learned so far to real-life tailoring applications.”

Alongside a written entry, the students were required to submit a 13-sample sewing stitch book, using a minimum of five different qualities of woven wool cloth to demonstrate their proficiency in hand-stitching and pocket production.

Alan Cannon Jones elaborated on the finalists’ technical proficiency: “For students with only limited experience of hand-stitching and technical tailoring applications, the entries were executed to a superb standard. But as well as this craftsmanship, we were also looking for evidence of the entrants’ potential to advance under Rory’s expert guidance.

“Our chosen finalists all showed real promise and creativity, along with a desire to develop their existing skills. I’m sure all have a bright future ahead of them, and I’m excited to see how the scholarship winner will flourish after 12 weeks of dedicated training.”

Set to be announced on Sunday 22 April, the winning student will be tutored by Rory Duffy in world-renowned Savile Row techniques, learning to measure, draft, fit and make a bespoke suit. All course fees have been covered by the Handcraft Tailor Academy, whilst accommodation and cloth costs have been sponsored by Dugdale Bros and travel expenses paid by The Textile Institute.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Katie Mallinson .