'You saw them here first': Leeds Arts University celebrates 180 years as talented fashion students win top awards

As Leeds Arts University celebrates 180 years, Yorkshire Post Fashion Editor Stephanie Smith finds out about the challenges and rewards faced by modern-day fashion students as they prepare to step into the industry.

Visionary, ground-breaking, even disruptive, Leeds Arts University has a long and impressive record of original, pioneering, creative endeavour and achievement. This year it celebrates its 180th anniversary as an esteemed seat of creative arts education.

The world, of course, looks very different today from how it did in 1846, when the Leeds Government School of Design, later the Leeds School of Art, was formed following the merger of the Leeds Mechanics’ Institute (which offered drawing classes) and the Literary Institute.

In 1903 the School moved to Vernon Street, which it still has today. Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth enrolled in 1919 and 1920. In the late ‘20s it became Leeds College of Art, and in the 1960s was described by artist Patrick Heron as "the most influential art school in Europe since the Bauhaus".

From 1968 to 1993, it was known as Jacob Kramer College - Eric Bainbridge, Marcus Harvey, Clio Barnard, Georgina Starr and Damien Hirst all studied for their Foundation Diploma there. Alumni also include singer Frankie Vaughan, actor Bob Peck and comedian Leigh Francis.

In 1993 the college was renamed Leeds College of Art and Design, later simplified to Leeds College of Art. In 2017 it was granted full university status and rebranded as Leeds Arts University, the only specialist arts university in the North of England. Its £22m state-of-the-art expansion was completed in 2019, with a 230-seat auditorium and industry-standard film, photography and fashion design studios. Skin, lead singer of Skunk Anansie, became its first chancellor in 2021.

“What I enjoyed most about the course was the creative freedom,” says Rubie Baldwin, who studied BA (Hons) Fashion Design. “I also met some amazing people along the way.”

Rubie, from Nottingham, has won a national competition brief set by the Graduate Fashion Foundation, in partnership with F&F, for Graduate Fashion Week 2026, to develop a commercially viable collection aligned with F&F’s customer and brand identity - with the winner offered a 12-month paid placement as an assistant designer at F&F's head office in Welwyn Garden City.

“I designed my collection for people in their mid-twenties who are influenced by emerging fashion trends,” Rubie says. “My aim was to create pieces that feel stylish and contemporary while encouraging consumers to restyle clothes they already own through the addition of distinctive accessories.

“Winning this competition means so much to me and has given me real confidence and hope for the future.”

Rubie’s graduate collection, called Tide and Time, was inspired by photographs of family holidays. “It explores the connection between the sea and my childhood, capturing the feelings of peace, freedom, and innocence that the coast has always given me.”

Fellow Fashion Design graduate Lou Miller won the Digital Fashion Award at this year’s Graduate Fashion Week, sponsored by 3D fashion design software company CLO.

Lou’s graduate collection, called The Damned, was inspired by the vivid imagery within the Book of the Apocalypse, particularly Revelation. One outfit explores the dichotomy between how women are presented in Revelation, as either The Sinful Whore of Babylon or the Pure Woman Clothed with The Sun. Lou says: “I combined aspects of each woman to play on the idea that no woman is any one thing, least of all good versus bad.

“I design all my patterns and outfits in CLO3D, which is a digital fashion design software. However, since digital garments can be as otherworldly as I liked, I had to work out how to bring my visions to life with the sewn physical outcomes. This involved making my own metalwork fastenings, screen-printed designs.

“I will continue to elevate The Damned and work on a sportswear version of my collection to build up my skills in every area of design. Essentially, I’ll keep designing.”

Lou has never used AI but learned during Graduate Fashion Week how it is being used to help companies create garments more quickly, saying: “There seems to be a focus on not removing the designing itself, just helping it along with the more ‘tedious’ part of fashion production.”

Nicola Knight, course leader for BA (Hons) Fashion Design at LAU, says there are mixed feelings about AI among students. “Some are understandably wary, recognising environmental concerns and the potential impact on the job market.

“However, they are also aware of its benefits and understand that AI will increasingly form part of contemporary creative practice, as it is already embedded within search engines and many other digital tools.

“Our aim is to help students develop a balanced, critical understanding of AI, recognising both its possibilities and its limitations within future creative economies.

“We encourage open and honest discussions with our students so they can be transparent about the use of AI within their projects, clearly articulating how they have used AI tools, the prompts they developed, and the benefits and limitations ofthe outputs. This enables students to engage with AI critically and ethically, rather than relying on it unreflectively.

“For example, AI can be a valuable tool for identifying relevant research sources and suggesting books for essay writing. However, we emphasise the importance of undertaking the research themselves, critically evaluating sources, and developing their own knowledge, judgement and understanding of the topic.

“We want students to use AI where appropriate, to support rather than replace, independent thinking and intellectual enquiry.

“The majority of fashion design students value the fact that they are learning a craft and developing a diverse skill set, taking an idea from 2D concept through to 3D realisation over the course of their degree.

“Alongside learning digital tools such as CLO3D, they also develop traditional skills through fashion drawing, illustration and tailoring workshops. We see this combination of digital capability, creative craftsmanship and critical understanding as essential in preparing graduates who are culturally responsive, adaptable and confident in navigating an evolving profession.”