Fashion design students showcase their creations at a catwalk show in Preston

The University of Central Lancashire attracted its biggest ever crowd to its annual Fashion Show as hundreds of visitors flocked to campus to see the work of 18 budding designers.

The final year fashion design students showed off their collections, fresh from the catwalk of Graduate Fashion Week in London, to a packed crowd in Venue 53. The event attracted industry experts, business leaders, local dignitaries and devoted fashion followers, who were all keen to see the students' designs.

Collection highlights included Charley Parr, whose collection featured in the Graduate Fashion Week Talent of Tomorrow 2019 campaign, the work of two students, Allison Elizabeth Orr and Zhixue Xie, which featured in Graduate Fashion Week's prestigious final Gala Show and Roxanne Hoare, whose talents were spotted during Graduate Fashion Week when she won a t-shirt design competition set by international retailer FatFace.

Senior Fashion Lecturer Amanda Odlin said: 'What a fantastic night. It was the ideal way to round-off a great year in the fashion department and we're all incredibly proud of what the students have achieved. They've invested a great deal of time, energy and passion in creating these highly personal collections and as a result, got some great feedback from industry experts at Graduate Fashion Week in London.'

And fashion promotion student Lucy Neville beat of hundreds of entries from across the country to win the Fashion Communications Portfolio Award at Graduate Fashion Week. The 25-year-old said: 'When I was announced as the winner I was completely lost for words and I still don't think it's sunk in. To make the final shortlist out of a strong list of contenders was fantastic but then to win was absolutely amazing.'

Graduate Fashion Week is one of the biggest events in the industry's calendar and showcases the very best of student work from around the globe, giving a platform to the next generation of fashion designers and promoters. It features work from more than 800 students from 42 universities - including international universities from China, Russia, Milan, Paris, The Netherlands and the Far East.