Fashion students Matthew Collister and Molly Wade, from the Isle of Man, were selected for tops spots at a press show in the annual Graduate Fashion Week in London. They spoke to reporter Jess Ward about their success.

Punk rock and slick men’s tailoring are what inspired former University College Isle of Man students Molly Wade and Matthew Collister to come up with their final collections which hit a London catwalk recently.

From a total of 77 fashion design and fashion textiles degree students at Middlesex University - where they have been studying for the past three years - both were individually selected to be one of 15 to showcase their work.

Watching from the crowd were a number of representatives from notable fashion companies and publishers, such as GQ and Hunter’s Magazine.

Molly, who studied fashion textiles, told the Manx Independent her collection was influenced by the punk rock era in which her dad Mike Wade, who writes Island Life at Isle of Man Newspapers, was a part of.

’I really like their music and it is the type of music I listen to. I started looking at pictures of my dad when he was younger. He was in many bands during the 80s and 90s,’ she explained.

’It was this subculture I was looking into and at androgyny - stuff that is stereotypically quite feminine, but goes over to menswear.

’It was quite a large learning curve. The designs are something that people haven’t necessarily seen before.’

Matthew, who studied fashion design, based his collection on men’s tailoring and high performance sportswear.

He said: ’Men’s tailoring has been around for years and it is a statement look. There’s power and status in men’s tailoring. I wanted to bring new concepts and really like the idea of blending high performance fabric. It’s not an everyday fabric, so for me it was a no brainer to do that.’

Being selected to feature their collections at Somerset House runway was a feat in itself, but the two were given the best slots overall with Molly opening the show and Matthew closing it.

’We started with a bang and ended with a bang,’ Matthew said. ’Those slots keep the audience interested. It gets the show going and the end is to round off a really good show.

’I was shocked that I closed the show. It’s the grand finale and I was very pleased. I’ve had great feedback since - it’s just not stopped.

’It’s a nice feeling when you’ve been working so hard that you forget your end goal, but at that point when you are selected you realise why you’ve done it. It becomes a full circle moment.’

He added: ’It was an amazing opportunity to be on the show. I was very happy that I stood out for it.

’My collection has been selected out of the 15 to be exhibited in a museum for a month at May Concepts Museum in London. It just doesn’t stop!

’I feel like these last two months of life have been going so fast, but so well. I’ve been working extremely hard, so I guess it’s all paying off.’

Molly said that opening the show was an ’amazing’ moment: ’It was a big venue with about 100-200 people watching.

’To have it there was very surreal. It hasn’t sunk in yet.

’After the last models walked out you followed them - you only see these things on TV or from the audience.

’We put in so much hard work. To get that was an added bonus and a nice surprise.’

It is a bizarre coincidence that the two have nearly shared the same journey into fashion, having studied at Castle Rushen High School, UCM and then gone to the same university which ended up in them achieving prime spots at the press show.

Matthew, who studied fashion for three years at UCM before university, said: ’We are friends because we’ve been at university together, but originally we didn’t know what each other’s goal was.

’It was nice having someone to go along with who knows what the Isle of Man is like.

’I think people misunderstand the island. I know it’s small, but you still have great teachers. UCM really helped me find myself early on. They gave a lot of attention to us students.’

Molly, who studied a Level 4 foundation diploma in art and design at UCM for a year after A-Levels, said: ’You hear that being from the Isle of Man can be such a disadvantage because you’re detached from everything else, but actually people from the island have come so far and are very successful in fashion.’

She gave fashion brand Preen by Thornton and Bregazzi as an example. Founded by couple Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi, who are from the island, Molly completed an internship with the world-class designers.

In a statement UCM said: ’The art department are very proud of the achievements for both Molly and Mattie, and wish them luck for their future careers.’

Both are now contemplating a Masters degree at the University of Westminster.