Fashion designer David Nieper has launched a new £5,000 scholarship to students at Nottingham Trent University (NTU), encouraging fashion design and greater choice for real women.

British fashion house, David Nieper, has launched a new fashion scholarship challenging over 200 second-year fashion students to design and promote fashion for women over 50 – a group often overlooked by the fashion industry.

Feeling invisible

According to the research by Kantar Worldpanel, women over the age of 50 are driving growth in the fashion industry, spending £6.7 billion on clothing in 2013 alone, yet almost three quarters of women think that the high street ignores them and that the clothing on offer is too focused on younger customers – making them feel invisible.

The aim of the David Nieper scholarship is to encourage up-and-coming fashion students to design for and think about the needs of women looking for flattering, timeless British style and elegance.  The scholarship will also pass on specialist knowledge and skills to the students taking part.

Elegant and comfortable

David Nieper’s senior designer, Elizabeth Edwards, said: “Women, especially our customers, not only want stylish clothes that look great, but garments that fit well and make them feel great too.  Whilst fashion is more about attitude than age, it is important to think about details such as longer sleeves, flattering necklines, colour and fabric choice.”

“The top scholarship entries will need to pay real attention to detail in terms of cut and fit, so that their designs are not just elegant and comfortable to wear, but also bring confidence to the customer.”

Fashion challenge

 As part of the scholarship, NTU students across three courses, including Fashion Design, Knitwear Design and Fashion Communication and Promotion, will compete in a week-long intensive fashion challenge focusing on classic British style.

Competition finalists will spend a day behind the scenes at David Nieper, to tour the factory and present their designs to a panel of judges, including David Nieper’s own customers and staff. The winning student from each degree course will be awarded £1,000, with the overall winner receiving an additional £2,000 – bringing the total to £5,000 of prize money to be awarded.

Hands-on experience

In addition, scholarship finalists will be given a budget of £500 to put on a fashion show at NTU in November 2014, where the competition winners will be revealed.  The winning students will also be invited to carry out work experience at David Nieper, to gain hands-on experience from the highly experienced staff.

Marjolijn Brussaard, Dean of the School of Art & Design at Nottingham Trent University, commented: “At Nottingham Trent University, we aim to broaden our students’ awareness of designing for a variety of markets and demographics which is why the David Nieper scholarship is so relevant. We are proud to be working with this respected fashion house once again.”

www.ntu.ac.uk