Leeds Arts University: From 1846 through Henry Moore and Damien Hirst to the brilliant Class of 2025

So it is gratifying to see their spirit continuing in the work of the current crop of students as they bring their own artistic vision into a 21st-century world that we struggle to make sense of. Their work has the support not just of their university but also of local industry, demonstrating the need to nurture new generations of art, design and enterprise.

Last month, LAU Fashion graduates showcased their impressive collections before an audience of industry figures, media, families, friends and fellow students.

Students come from far afield. “It is always amazing to see how many of our students who come from all over the UK and the world adopt Yorkshire and Leeds, and how this plays a real part in their creative journey,” says Nicola Knight, course leader for BA (Hons) Fashion Design and MA Fashion.

“A good example of this is Charlie Brown, who studied Foundation at LAU and continued to study her degree with us. She is from Wales but really adopted Leeds as her home.”

While studying, Charlie was creative director of Leeds Rag Fashion Show, along with Alice Turner, a final year student on LAU’s BA Hons Fashion Photography course. It raised more than £10,000 pounds for local charities.

“Charlie found her love of creating contemporary tailoring and menswear inspired by historical garments. She visited fashion archives at Bankfield Museum in Halifax and sourced all her cloth from Fabworks in Dewsbury (woollen deadstock) or donations from Alfred Brown (Bramley-based worsted weavers).”

Fashion and textile industry links bring the students insight and experience. Leeds-born Rav Matharu, creative director of Clothsurgeon and an LAU alumnus, worked with final year students who visited the store on Savile Row. Another alumnus, Samantha Fenwick of Leeds-based bespoke tailors Morgan & Fenwick, worked with second-year students on a tailoring module using fabrics donated by Alexander McQueen and Alfred Brown.

Leeds Arts University has a long and impressive history of nurturing artistic endeavour in the city.

Leeds School of Art, as it was first known, was created in 1846 by the merger of the Leeds Mechanics’ Institute (which offered drawing classes) with the Literary Institute. In 1903, it moved to its Vernon Street premises (which it still has).

Following the world wars, ex-service personnel filled the college, many on training grants. 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 and Eric Bainbridge, Marcus Harvey, Clio Barnard, Georgina Starr and Damien Hirst all studied the Foundation Diploma there. Alumni also include singer Frankie Vaughan, actor Bob Peck and comedian Leigh Francis.

In the mid-1980s the Blenheim Walk building was built. In 2017 the college changed its name to Leeds Arts University, the only specialist arts university in the North of England. Its £22m state-of-the-art building expansion was completed in 2019. It has a 230-seat auditorium, industry-standard film and photography studios, fashion design studios, specialist arts research and reference library. Skin, lead singer of rock band Skunk Anansie, became its first chancellor in 2021.

“Where we are different from other universities, as a specialist arts university, is the amount of natural collaboration that goes on between our students, both in course and outside,” says Klaus Piechocki-Brown, of LAU PR and Communications.

“Our numerous facilities mean that students can collaborate with Fine Art students and apply to use traditional Fine Art facilities such as metal and wood workshops.

“Our students are encouraged to hone their tailoring and push the envelope. You can see many bold avant-garde silhouettes this year and accessories, particularly exciting hats and headgear that are almost integral to the clothes.”

Some of the graduate collections that explore cultural identities. Alicia Glen, who was shortlisted for the The Face Prize and Culture and Heritage Award at GFW this year, created a skirt made of football scarves, which featured in the Graduate Fashion Week gala show and will be showcased in concept stores with IDA sports.

Daisy Budianta, originally from Indonesia, is driven to tell stories through fashion, bringing a sentimental, delicate, decorative vision into her designs, often exploring themes of identity, memory, and emotion. Witness her fabulous oversized cake hat, topping a whimsical outfit reminiscent of children’s storybooks.

Floss Tuppen, meanwhile, is a sustainable fashion designer who already has her own brand called Fings by Floss. She was shortlisted for the New Business Award at Graduate Fashion Week and has been selected as one of nine rising stars in sustainable fashion for Visa’s Recycle the Runway competition, which spotlights emerging circular fashion talent.

Nicola says: “She took advantage of sourcing her materials from SCRAP in Leeds and FabWorks, also working alongside her peers as a part of our creative community to create a great sustainable slow fashion brand with a strong ethos.”

Exactly what is needed if we are to see a fashion making revival in the UK.