FASHION IN THE SPOTLIGHT AT GONORTH 2014

FASHION IN THE SPOTLIGHT AT GONORTH 2014

WITH just over a week to go until Scotland’s leading creative industries festival, goNORTH, sets up its stall in Inverness, organisers say it’s shaping up to be the most wide-reaching edition in its 14-year-history.

This year’s goNORTH Festival takes place on Wednesday 4th June and Thursday 5th June at venues across Inverness.

The unique event, which is free for the public to attend, will welcome more than 100 leading industry players in the field of fashion, music, gaming, screen, broadcast and publishing to its daytime panels and workshops as well as more than 60 up-and-coming acts to its evening music showcase.

Fashion is strutting its way into the goNORTH spotlight this year, with the festival’s opening party on Wednesday 4th June night featuring a Runway Show at The Ironworks in Inverness, starring the work of some of the best up-and-coming designers from the Highlands and Islands.

This catwalk production is presented by Scotland Re:Designed, which champions Scotland’s fashion and textile sectors, and includes work by eight rising Scottish stars, including; Black Isle-born Karen Mabon, whose Scissor and Rose dress was recently spotted gracing the form of supercool DJ, Fearne Cotton, and Fort William’s own Judy Clark, one of Emile Sandé’s favourite designers. Clark was recently tipped by Italian Vogue as one to watch.

Leading fashion industry insiders, such as Karen Radley, founder of premium womenswear collection, Scoop International, will also be taking part in the conference element of goNORTH.

Karen began her career working with family fashion firm, Radley, going on to manage the designer company Quorum, whose names included Celia Birtwell, Betty Jackson and Ossie Clark. She was instrumental in the staging of hugely popular exhibition of the work of Ossie Clark at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and also worked as a sales agent for major brands such as Versace and Paul & Joe.

Chris Hunt, founder of Scotland Re:Designed (SR:D ) said: “I’ve been keen to work with goNORTH for years, and am thrilled to be involved with them in developing this opportunity for the incredible design talent from the Highlands & Islands.

“It’s an honour to have an SR:D Runway and conference in two such prominent slots at goNORTH. We’re excited to be bringing high profile team experts such as Karen Radley and international showcase and trend expert, Anne Ritchie, to help map the designers’ road to success.

“We had a number of strong applications from designers keen to be featured on the Runway and receive one-to-one mentoring. It was hard choosing which designers would benefit most from the experience, but we’re excited for the successful applicants, and we’d encourage anyone with an interest in forging a career in designer fashion to register via goNORTH’s website to attend the show on the 4th and the Conference on the 5th.”

Festival director, Amanda Millen, commented: “We are delighted to be working with Scotland Re:Designed on the Runway event. The goNORTH network is all about fostering creative careers in the Highlands and Islands and there has always been a real talent base of designers working across the region. The high quality of work on show by the selected designers highlights this point. We can’t wait to see it on the catwalk.

Highlights of goNORTH will be broadcast over the course of the festival by Radio goNORTH, a two-week long training course for aspiring radio broadcasters.

The eight designers selected to showcase their work at goNORTH 2014 are:

• goNORTH Festival 2014 takes place on Wednesday 4th & Thursday 5th June across Inverness city centre
• For full programme information visit www.gonorthfestival.co.uk
• For information on RadioGonorth visit www.radiogonorth.com
• goNORTH Festival video trailer: www.youtube.com/user/goNORTHFestival
• goNORTH was originally launched in 2001 to provide a platform for artists from the north of Scotland to showcase for music industry and media representatives
• goNORTH is now firmly established as Scotland’s leading creative industries festival
• goNORTH is funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)