Students and graduates from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) have taken part in a prestigious fashion show in the King’s State Apartments at Kensington Palace, London.
Five current DMU fashion students worked backstage dressing professional models for the runway as part of a fashion show hosted by Historic Royal Palace’s. Meanwhile three graduates of DMU’s renowned Fashion Communications course were on hand to capture the action on the catwalk, and chronicle the frenetic activity behind the scenes.
The show was a precursor to a major new exhibition opening at Kensington Palace today, 13 March. The Dress Codes exhibition explores how the dress codes of the royal family and royal court relate to the dress codes we all follow in our own lives.
The Young Producers fashion show celebrated the work of young people who were inspired by the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection to create music, film and fashion which was then, with expert help, turned into the clothes modelled at the show.
DMU’s students and graduates were involved by thanks to the university’s close connection with Avis Charles, a renowned fashion consultant, whose clients have included Vivienne Westwood and Victoria Beckham. Avis Charles was awarded an Honorary International Research Fellow and Decolonising Ambassador by DMU in 2021. She was also among the first cohort of DMU’s Black Women’s Academics Development Programme.
Isabelle Barton, a third-year fashion design student at DMU, said: “Being part of this event has been such a good opportunity, I feel like I’ve just learned so much about how behind the scenes works and how a cat walk runs, and we’ve just made such good connection in the industry as well."
The students were supported by their lecturers Della Swain, Associate Professor in Fashion at DMU and Lucy Wilding, Programme leader for the BA Hons Fashion Communication course.
Lucy said: “We do a lot of showcasing across the year at various places in and around Leicester and at the university, but the opportunity to do this with Avis Charles Associates and the Historical Royal Palaces Team has been something quite special.”
Della said: “To take part in such a prestigious event as this, with Historic Royal Palaces and Avis Charles Associates is pretty incredible.”
The Dress Codes exhibition runs at Kensington Palace from 13 March to 30 November 2025.
Posted on Thursday 13 March 2025