November is here and winter is definately upon us. As a knitwear designer I love this season because I see lots of fantastic knitted creations being worn on the streets of Newcastle, and I am invigorated by the versatility of chunky, cosy, sexy, knitted garments in the shops.

The cold weather I woke up to this morning also reminded me that it’s also only a month until the Clothes Show Live fashion event at the Birmingham NEC. I’m excited about this because each year I’m involved in judging a competition called “Can-U-Cut-It” for fashion students studying at further education establishments across the country. This year I hepled select students from the Manchester heat, who would be put forward to the final, which is held at the Clothes Show in December.

The students submissions to the competition this year were of an extreamly high standard, and we had a difficult job whittling them down. The final show on the Catwalk in December always reminds me of the high standard of design education we provide in the UK, and that there are some immensly talented emerging young designers out there.

For more information about Clothes Show Live click here 

For more images from the Manchester Can-U-Cut-It heat click here