The event has become a regular fixture of the Who's Next fashion trade show. For the fourth consecutive year, Who's Next Paris teamed up with www.artsthread.com, a website for recent graduates in fashion and design, to help them network with professionals and find the new talents of tomorrow. A stand-out among the Art Threads winners was British Victoria Sowerby, who just graduated from Central Saint Martins School in London, and whose graduate collection features a sportswear line inspired by football and hooliganism.

Raised in the northeast of England, Victoria Sowerby is crazy about football. Her collection, dubbed Hit T'North after the song of the British group The Fall, shows her obsession for prints, color and contemporary design. "I grew up in the world of football," she said. "As a child, I watched the Middlesbrough games, and I was quickly fascinated by the attire of football fanatics, often macho boys who are not shy about wearing bright colors. Their look prodded me to create a line of sportswear, a little offbeat, sexier, fashion with a not-so-serious angle."

She also drew upon motifs from the remake of the 2009 film The Firm, the history of rival football fans gangs. The young designer was inspired by images and colors of stadium crowds and devised a first collection with a dab of English humor and a touch of retro 90s. "Prints fascinate me. The t-shirts sport faces of football stars such as Kevin Keegan. My tops are blazoned with images of a crowd of fans, shorts and vests are done in synthetic grass, some jerseys are transparent, poking a little fun at the macho die-hard fans."

While she waits to see about the marketability of her products (viewable on www.victoria-sowerby.com), the young designer hopes the attention from the competition and the trade fair will land her a first job in the fashion industry, particularly in the world of brands specialized in prints, her favorite area.
Alexis Chenu