This exciting project challenged students to respond to Tu’s Future Consumer profiles for Autumn/Winter 2026, developing a collection of fabrics and six visualisations for womenswear, menswear, or childrenswear.
The brief asked students to consider choice, fabrication, layering, and outfit building, while also creating a sustainability strategy relevant to the consumer, brand, and market level. It was a chance to combine creative freedom with real-world consideration, production methods, sustainability, and commercial viability, while proposing innovative strategies for a competitive market.
After weeks of research, design development, and experimentation, the Tu design team reviewed all submissions and shortlisted 12 students:
Gabi Gelderbloom, Emilia Nightingale, Rebecca Parry, Tess McLaughlin, Hattie Langton, Eliza Bohannon, Lottie Mountford, Pollyanna Dickinson, Ellie Durrant, Esosa Giwa-Osagie, Aimee Est, Issy Pearce.
Last week, Alex Hempsey and Amelia Aldridge from Tu joined us on campus to meet the students and select the winners.
Hattie Langton
Tu praised Hattie’s attention to detail, beautifully finished samples, and forward-thinking sustainability strategy. Her collection was so versatile that the team felt it could extend beyond fashion into other product areas. Hattie will enjoy an exclusive experience at Tu’s head office alongside her award and voucher.
Emilia Nightingale
Emilia impressed Tu with her vibrant use of colour, strong research, and compelling visual boards supported by primary sources.
Aimee Est
Aimee’s convincing colour palette and cohesive collection stood out as something Tu could easily imagine in-store.
The Tu team shared glowing feedback on the module overall, noting how difficult it was to shortlist entries because every student took the brief in a unique direction. They were particularly impressed that, despite the commercial nature of the project, students maintained strong conceptual and creative integrity, a refreshing approach for an industry brief.
Highlights included Pollyanna Dickinson’s “How Tu”, a clever concept for educating wearers on garment repair for longevity, and Ellie Durrant’s “A Love Letter to the Earth”, a sustainability-driven strategy for childrenswear.
This collaboration was an incredible opportunity for our students to experience a real-world design scenario, balancing creativity with commercial awareness. We’re proud of their achievements and grateful to Sainsbury’s Tu for supporting this enriching experience.