Smit's winning piece takes centre stage

When the Royal College of Art informed their fashion design and textile design students earlier this year that they would have the unique opportunity to enter a design competition in partnership with Marks & Spencer and ELLE UK, the response was overwhelming.

Students across both courses spent hours upon hours with their noses buried deep in sketch books, with fabric strewn across workshops and designs coming out of their ears in order to complete a look that would work commercially for the brand whilst incorporating a touch of the innovative flair that is integral to the Royal College of Art’s teaching. After many months of sewing, sketching and pinning, MA Fashion student Anna Smit has been crowned as the overall winner of this unique competition.

Judges from M&S, the RCA and ELLE gradually whittled down the entries to this twelve piece collection from over 50 designs, and the final pieces are now on sale online and in the M&S Marble Arch store. The entire collection reiterates the quality of Anna’s winning ensemble, and she will go on to create a further extended collection with M&S for Spring/Summer 2011.

“I am thrilled to be the winner of this unique collaboration. I really enjoyed working with M&S and look forward to developing pieces for SS11. As a young designer it’s a great experience to work with such an established company as M&S,” beams Anna.

Runner-up textile design student Emma Shipley explains how projects like these expose students to the realities of designing in the real world: “Designing with such a big brand like M&S in mind alters the entire design process; we’re so lucky to get opportunities that teach us the real life problems and intricacies of commercial design before we graduate.”

Shipley has already won a design collaboration herself, in partnership with sports brand Umbro, where her printed sportswear demonstrated an unusually artistic approach to practical clothing. It seems clear then that Smit is not the only designer amongst RCA’s students who is destined for a promising future in commercial design.

Emma Shipley's bird print dress

Widely considered to be a staple store of the British high street, M&S is now keen to tap into this relatively untouched approach to creating collections; embarking on a programme of nationwide involvement with design students, in order to establish a working relationship between up and coming designers and traditional retailers.

Neil Hendy, Head of Design at M&S emphasises the brand’s enthusiasm for such ventures: “We have been really impressed by the standard of Anna’s designs. We are looking forward to seeing her outfit on our shop floor and working closely together to create SS11 designs.”

The RCA collection is a varied mélange of fabrics and design techniques, ranging from Shipley’s boho bird print dress to Itziar Vaquer’s sharp shouldered, tailored jacket. The winning outfit comprised Smit’s drape ponte dress and caramel leather jacket, which retails for a mere £150; offering accessible, luxury design on a very reasonable platter.

The collection showcases twelve garments in all, ranging in price from £35-£150 and available in sizes 8 – 16; emphasising how true design standards really can be applied to mass market fashion. We wait with bated breath for Smit’s Spring/Summer collection with M&S; it seems she could just be the catalyst needed to rejuvenate this age-old institution of the British high street.