Fancy yourself as a fashion designer?

Nottingham's 48 Hours of Fashion is coming up in March, and today we have a guest blog from Rachel Kelso who explains how YOU could have your very own design out there on the high street as part of this year's event! 48 Hours of Fashion returns to Nottingham on 29^th-30^th March and this year you could become the most sought-out designer of the weekend with the launch of a fantastic T-shirt design competition! Our city has always had a vibrant fashion scene; with niche independents, vintage shops and designer boutiques rubbing shoulders with the usual high street and department stores, Nottingham certainly has a diverse enough backdrop to make for a fantastic shopping experience. This is all to be celebrated next month when 48 Hours of Fashion hits the city once again. An initiative set up by the Nottingham Business Improvement District (BID), the event has been attracting wide audiences to Nottingham for the last three years. While 48 Hours of Fashion centres primarily around two days of catwalk action and fashion master classes in the Old Market Square, this time around the Nottingham BID are launching an opportunity which will allow members of the public to really get involved in the weekend’s goings-on. Working alongside Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centre, the Nottingham BID have organised for a T-shirt design competition to take place. Aimed at amateur designers aged 16+, it asks entrants to come up with a distinctive T-shirt design showcasing their creative skills. Selecting the winner will be a specialist panel including representatives from the Nottingham BID and Maggie’s, as well as local fashion designer Ash Gangotra, who is best known as the founder and designer of Liam Gallagher’s fashion label, Pretty Green. Also on the panel will be stylist to the stars, Gemma Sheppard, who has clients including Dannii Minogue, Tulisa Contastavlos and Jason Gardiner. Once the winning design has been chosen, it will be screen printed and sold during 48 Hours of Fashion with all proceeds going to Maggie’s. There is a fantastic goodie bag up for grabs for the creator of the winning design, containing an array of gifts from some of the best businesses Nottingham has to offer. The T-shirt could also be modelled on the catwalk over the course of the 48 Hours of Fashion event. The aim of this competition is to raise funds for Maggie’s, a charity based in the grounds of NottinghamCityHospital, which supports people affected by cancer, their families and friends. This is an excellent opportunity for any budding fashionista to get their talents recognised or just to have a bit of fun, so if wish to enter the competition, simply contact info@nottinghambid.com to receive an entry form. The deadline for entries is Friday 28^th February and if you would like to find out more about the organisations involved, feel free to visit their websites: Nottingham BID: www.itsinnottingham.com Maggie’s: www.maggiescentres.org/ourcentres/maggies-nottingham Best of luck and we hope to see your design out there on the high street!