BUDDING young fashion designers at Chipping Norton School could be the Stella McCartney of the future after winning awards for their creations in a national competition.

Sixth former Rosa Avilez won first prize in the A2 category of Young Fashion Designer UK while Rosie Caldwell won a highly commended award for her work at GCSE.

The Midlands YFDUK Centre received more than 100 entries from 26 different schools for this year’s award and 18 students were selected to attend the final a the Royal Grammar School in Worcester by a panel of judges including retail buyers, designers and education specialists.

Both students presented their work to the judges and had two 10-minute interviews, answering questions and explaining how their projects evolved from the initial design brief to the final product.

Miss Avilez has won a work placement with Inkberrow Design Centre (IDC) where she will work with the IDC studios and their tutors to design her own six-piece capsule collection.

And her work will be showcased at the Midlands Fashion Award in Birmingham in October, the Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch show at Birmingham NEC next March and the London Excel Centre a month later.

“I was grateful for just having been selected as a finalist for the Young Fashion Designer UK competition as the opportunity allowed me to see the amazing work of other designers of my age group," she said.

"The experience was nerve racking as the judges were looking at every detail of our designs and were also interested in our research into the marketing and costing of the product.

"I was incredibly happy and pleased to have been selected for the first prize, the opportunity to design my own collection.

"I am excited to begin working on this new project as it will be a great experience and preparation for what could come in the future and I am also extremely grateful to Mrs Drinkwater (Textiles teacher at Chipping Norton School) for having given me the opportunity to take part in the Young Fashion Designer UK 2014 competition.”