QUT student awarded top honours

Nicholas Wilsdon may have been in the fashion industry only five minutes but he's already growing accustomed to being called names.

The 21-year-old has been labelled a "favourite" by David Jones, been described as "incredibly mature" by his course tutor and called "a best seller" by his first stockist.

But now the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) student has another mantle to add to his collection - Australian Fashion Graduate of the Year.

Crowned during the six day Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival Brisbane earlier this month, Wilsdon beat off competition from 11 other graduates from six colleges to be awarded the title.

Fellow QUT graduate Dani Klein and Royal Melbourne Institute of Tafe (RMIT) student Sam Fisher were awarded special mention.

This year marked the inaugural launch of the awards, judged by a stellar panel including Queensland designer Paul Hunt, Blonde Venus owner Thea Basilou, Sunday Mail Fashion Editor Kellie Alderman, Coffee Club PR Director John Lazarou and Ragtrader editor Tracey McEldowney, touted as a "battle of the colleges".

In presenting the award at the festival, David Jones general manager of womenswear David Bush said the judges' decision was unanimous with the panel finding Wildson's graduate collection "thoughtful and ageless".

"Nicholas' collection will appeal to a broad market. . . we found Nicholas had the most mature business acumen and he was also the most mature from a design perspective, while retaining real artistic integrity," Bush said.

QUT fashion head teacher Suzi Vaughan said Wilsdon's collections boasted an understated aesthetic not normally seen in young designers.

"On one hand he is quite unassuming and on the other he has real drive. He's incredibly mature in his designs," Vaughan said.

Plucked from the same course as Gail Sorronda, George Wu and John Prikryl, Wilsdon - currently competing his Honours in fashion design - intends launching his own haute couture label straight after graduation.
He said the $5000 prize he was awarded for winning the title would be used as seeding money for the launch and to help him put together a business plan.