Manchester Met’s Sarah Ajayi wins GFW Gold Award

Graduate Fashion Week 2025 drew to a close on June 16 at The Truman Brewery in London with a celebration of the best graduate talent with a curated catwalk showcase featuring this year’s award-winning designers, including Manchester Metropolitan University’s Sarah Ajayi, who scooped the coveted Gold Award.

Ajayi was presented with the Best of GFW - Gold Award by designer Julien Macdonald for her ‘Queens of the Market’ collection that paid tribute to the “power, presence and grace of African market women”.

The judges said that Ajayi’s work, which featured natural raffia, Adire African textiles, and basket-inspired forms, stood out for its “originality, craft, and creative vision”. Macdonald added in the presentation of the award that Ajayi's fashion collection offered “special attention to design, detail, construction, and fabric manipulation”.

Commenting on her win, Ajayi said in a statement: “I am over the moon. I am overly excited, I'm so happy. My hard work finally paid off and I am just so excited to see where this all goes.”

Lee Wa Tan from the University for the Creative Arts, Epsom, was awarded the Silver Award for their collection combining tartan with polka dots, which impressed judges as a “joyful expression of style and self”. Scarlet Taylor from Nottingham Trent University won the Bronze Award for her “refined aesthetic and thoughtful attention to detail”.

Kitty Carr-Lake, University of Leeds, School of Design wins Debenhams Commercial Catwalk Award

Other awards presented at the Gala included the Debenhams Commercial Catwalk Award, celebrating a graduate talent with a “contemporary commercial eye”. The award was won by Kitty Carr-Lake from the University of Leeds, School of Design.

The accolade was presented by Rachel King, buying and design director at Debenhams.com, who said the standard of the entries this year was “exceptional, innovative and original” and that Carr-Lake had impressed the judging panel with her collection for being “technically innovative and ready for the Debenhams customer”.

On the winning collection, Dan Finley, chief executive of the Debenhams Group, told FashionUnited: “Kitty Carr-Lake’s collection stood out instantly. It was technically advanced, creatively fearless, and completely retail ready. The knitwear was incredible - not just in design but in innovation. And what’s more, her skills go well beyond knitwear.”

As the winner, Carr-Lake will have the opportunity to bring her collection to life with Debenhams and undertake a work placement at the online department store’s headquarters.

Graduate Fashion Week announces 2025 winners

The GFW Menswear Award was presented to Alice Bambury from the Cambridge School of Visual and Performing Arts.

The WGSN Catwalk Colour Award went to Jasmine Kelly from Manchester Fashion Institute at Manchester Metropolitan University for showing “maturity and commerciality beyond her years”. As the winner, Kelly will receive WGSN mentoring and a one-week placement, as well as a bespoke colour bundle from Coloro.

International Award winners at Graduate Fashion Week 2025

As well as showcasing student talent from UK universities across 26 different fashion disciplines and more than 100 degree courses, Graduate Fashion Week also features international schools from China, Spain, Italy, Columbia, France, South Africa, and Japan.

This year’s GFW25 International – Gold Award was presented to Li-Yue Chen from Shih Chien University, while the Silver Award was won by Liu Yingshan from the Donghua University Sino-Japan Joint Program of Fashion Design, and the Bronze Award went to Zhang Xiyue from Donghua University College of Fashion and Design, China.

The Gala also saw the winner announced for the inaugural GFF x MAXXAM design competition, which was launched earlier this year, inviting fashion students from across the UK and internationally to design an SS26 womenswear capsule collection using MAXXAM, the original 4-way stretch crinkle fabric invented by fashion designer Rosemary Moore.

The brief challenged students to produce a timeless range of one-size, seamless multi-purpose athleisure wear for a week’s holiday that embraced the fabric’s history and included at least one piece of swimwear.

Paballo Sannah Makifafe from STADIO School of Fashion, South Africa was named the winner for impressing the judges with a collection that stood out “for its theme, creativity, sustainability story, innovation, and commercial viability”.

Commenting on her win, Sannah Makofate, said: “Winning for me is amazing. It's an honour, especially as a student and designer coming from South Africa. It is an exciting way to start my career and means everything to me to know that a brand has chosen me and believes in my designs."

On the winning design, Moore added: “All the three student finalists - Ivo, Ella and Paballo, challenged us at the design and make-up stage of their designs, offering very innovative use of our textiles for SS26. A key theme running across all three capsule collections was the creative utilisation of any waste occurring at the cutting stage, which from our viewpoint is vital right now to reduce the issues of disposing of waste.

“Our final decision was greatly influenced by the integrity of Paballo’s story line for her collection, combined with her creative interchangeable range of colourful silhouettes.”

GFW 2025 winners

• Accessories Award: Heidi Walmsley, De Montfort University

• Childrenswear Award: Amber Dean, University of Leeds

• Considered Fashion Award: Brodie Anderson, Nottingham Trent University

• Creative Pattern Cutting Award: Leran Li, Kingston University

• Culture Heritage Award (Design): Tala Lulu, Coventry University

• Culture Heritage Award (Non-Design): Noah Kinyanjui, University of the West of England

• Dame Zandra Rhodes Fashion Textiles Award: Célian Dewasmes, University for the Creative Arts, EPSOM

• Inclusive Fashion Award: Isabella Rawlinson-Matthew, De Montfort University

• FACE Excellence Prize: Sarah Ajayi, Manchester Metropolitan University

• Fashion Illustrator Award: Emma Tsilele Basso M’Timkulu, Cambridge School of Visual & Performing Arts

• Fashion Innovation Award: Kayleigh Atkinson, Central Lancashire University

• New Business Award: Lucy Harrington-Rutterford, Manchester Metropolitan University

• The Fashion Portfolio Award: Poppy Pritchard-Booth, Kingston University

• The Hillary Alexander Sustainability Trailblazer Award: Methulie Jayawickrama, Northumbria University

• The Next Fashion Trend Award: Ying Zhong, Cambridge School of Visual & Performing Arts

• Sportswear and Leisurewear Award: Anna Drust, Bath Spa University

• Fashion Marketing Award: Samantha Ting, Nottingham Trent

• Terry Mansfield Fashion Publication Award: Casey Henshaw, De Montfort

• Digital Fashion Award: Jasmine Kelly, Manchester Met

• Fashion Photography Award: Phoebe Jacob, Leeds Arts

• Digital Fashion Media Award: Dnee Scott, De Montfort

• Fashion Moving Image Award: Emma Avent, Arts University Bournemouth

• Fashion Styling and Creative Direction Award: Keira Brown, Manchester Met

• Fashion Communication Portfolio Award: Grace Shorock, UCLan

• Project Pitch Businesses of Tomorrow Award: Isabella Rawlinson-Matthews, De Montfort University)