Nottingham Trent University student designs new Graduation gowns for class of 2024 | Nottingham Trent University
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Nottingham Trent University student designs new Graduation gowns for class of 2024

Students graduating from NTU will be amongst the first to wear newly designed ceremonial gowns and hoods.

    MA Fashion and Creative Pattern Cutting student, Georgia Stevenson, with her gown designs

    Current NTU fashion students were invited to create a distinctive new look for the graduation gowns, working towards a brief to reflect the University's brand with unique details and components. NTU’s existing Graduation gowns have been in place since 1990, and consist of 24 academic dress designs in the University's previous brand colours.

    The winning design came from Georgia Stevenson, who will shortly complete her MA in Fashion and Creative Pattern Cutting. Her creation takes inspiration from the angles of NTU’s iconic Arkwright building, with the addition of the coat of arms in the University’s signature pink colour.

    Working closely with NTU’s gown supplier Graduation Attire, Georgia spent many months bringing her concept to life, and won a prize of £500 in the process.

    The new gowns have impressive sustainability credentials, as each one is made using 30 post-consumer recycled plastic bottles. Each hood created cuts and folds to a single rectangle, resulting in minimal fabric waste during production. Comfort is also a key feature, with the new gown showcasing a more angular design without a neckband or buttonhole, reducing slippage of the garment.

    Talking about her unique designs, Georgia said she wanted to create something dynamic and sustainable for graduates of 2024 and beyond:

    “When I heard about the competition, I thought it was an amazing opportunity, as I have not heard of many universities redesigning their academic dress before. I knew I wanted to design something completely unique and very different. After speaking to previous NTU students on my MA course and seeing their Graduation photos, I realised that the Arkwright building was a major backdrop behind everyone’s photos, which inspired me.

    “I was also inspired by NTU’s strong sustainability values. The University really drives and inspires us all to work in more sustainable ways and this was something I wanted the new academic dress to reflect. I have achieved this by creating the hood from a rectangle piece of fabric leading to a very minimal waste design.”

    Commenting on the design, Professor Edward Peck, Vice-Chancellor and President at Nottingham Trent University, expressed his pleasure on the final result:

    "I’m very pleased we’ve been able to utilise our students’ considerable talents in updating our academic dress. Georgia’s redesign is innovative, unique and sustainability-focused, reflecting our goals as a university of the future. I’m looking forward to seeing our new gowns in situ at the ceremonies throughout July.”

    The new designs also mean that the cost of hiring a gown for Graduation has reduced by half for graduating students.

    • Notes for editors

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      About Nottingham Trent University

      Nottingham Trent University (NTU) received the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2021 for cultural heritage science research. It is the second time that NTU has been bestowed the honour of receiving a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its research, the first being in 2015 for leading-edge research on the safety and security of global citizens.

      The Research Excellence Framework (2021) classed 83% of NTU’s research activity as either world-leading or internationally excellent. 86% of NTU’s research impact was assessed to be either world-leading or internationally excellent.

      NTU was awarded The Times and The Sunday Times Modern University of the Year 2023 and ranked University of the Year in the Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023. It was awarded Outstanding Support for Students 2020 (Times Higher Education Awards), University of the Year 2019 (Guardian University Awards, UK Social Mobility Awards), Modern University of the Year 2018 (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide) and University of the Year 2017 (Times Higher Education Awards).

      NTU is the 5th largest UK institution by student numbers, with approximately 40,000 students and more than 4,400 staff located across five campuses. It has an international student population of 7,000 and an NTU community representing over 160 countries.

      Since 2000, NTU has invested £570 million in tools, technology, buildings and facilities.

      NTU is in the UK’s top 10 for number of applications and ranked first for accepted offers (2021 UCAS UG acceptance data). It is also among the UK’s top five recruiters of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and was the first UK university to sign the Social Mobility Pledge.

      NTU is ranked the second most sustainable university in the world in the 2022 UI Green Metric University World Rankings (out of more than 900 participating universities).

    Published on 10 July 2024
    • Category: Press office; School of Art & Design