Three University of Central Lancashire fashion students have won a Graduate Fashion Week (GFW) award for a project exploring the legacy of women’s football pioneers, the Preston-based Dick, Kerr Ladies.
The final year fashion promotion with marketing students; Megan Lomax, Grace Shorrock and Kayleigh Atkinson, used the inspirational story of the most successful women’s football team of all time to explore “the female gaze in women’s sport” for the competition.
They were asked to create a marketing campaign to align with a planned concept store that will provide a home for female-led businesses who are designing products and experiences specifically for women who play sport.
In their entry, the trio wanted to celebrate the success of the Dick, Kerr Ladies, who were active from 1917 – 1965 and began life at a munitions factory in Preston during the First World War. The Preston team set the sport on fire during the early years of the 20th century. At their peak, the ladies drew crowds of more than 50,000 and raised more than the equivalent of £10 million today for war-related charities before a ban of women’s football by the FA in 1921 then effectively set the women’s game back 50 years.
“We wanted to honour the Dick, Kerr Ladies and everything they achieved against all odds”, said Kayleigh, 34. “It was really important that through the campaign we invited people to see women as athletes and not glamorise them.”
The students crafted mood boards to explain their narrative and demonstrate how they would communicate it through social media. They also designed and made a football kit, based on the black and white kit the Ladies wore at the time, and set up a photoshoot at Preston North End, where the Dick, Kerr Ladies played during their most successful years. Shot by University of Central Lancashire photography student Georgina Shorrock, the models are depicted wearing the kit with a stylish edge but wearing little make up.
Grace, 21, said: “Our message is that making space for women in football is dirty work. We want to inspire the next generation of female footballers and at the same time make them aware of this pioneering team and what these women achieved.”
Open to all second and final-year students from all fashion-based degree courses at GFW Member Universities in the UK and internationally, the students beat off stiff competition to be crowned the winners of one of three pathways.
“We are overjoyed to win,” said 22-year-old Megan. “We presented our ideas to a panel of industry judges and got such positive feedback we were blown away. To be recognised by industry figures is a huge boost.”
The team’s winning campaign will now go on display in the concept store, online and across social media, as well as showcased at Graduate Fashion Week 2025 this June in London.
Eve Astle, Senior Lecturer for Fashion Promotion and Marketing at the University, added: “I am incredibly proud of our wonderful students and all they have achieved with this project.
“Their tenacity, attention to detail and excellent research skills really elevated this final work and a truly special part of this brief was hearing the story of Dick, Kerr Ladies football team and all that they achieved, both on and off the pitch.
“It is a Preston story that absolutely deserves a spotlight and the students did a wonderful job bringing it to life through their imagery.”
More information about Graduate Fashion Week is available online. - https://www.graduatefashionweek.com/