Student Artwork in Seven Stories Exhibition

Captivating clothing designs by our art and design students are enchanting visitors at an exhibition at Seven Stories.

Second year students Sophie Clayton, Libby Bannister, Paige Trainer Murray and Grace Bredael were all inspired by Seven Stories’ current Betty Larom exhibition.

They were challenged to create their own apparel designs inspired by children’s literature, with the most impactful being chosen to be on display in the exhibition.

The chosen artwork includes a dress by Sophie Clayton inspired by the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, a range of shoes by Libby Bannister inspired by the Harry Potter books, a party dress by Grace Bradael inspired by Ursula from The Little Mermaid and outfits by Paige Trainer Murray inspired by each character in the Winnie the Pooh books.

Aimee Philipson, Director at Marketing at Seven Stories, explains “We invited students in to Seven Stories to see the exhibition and then to use their course knowledge and creativity to design their own literature-based apparel. We couldn’t be happier with the work that was submitted and it’s been great to see the students’ processes, skills and inspirations come to fruition in their final designs.”

The exhibition, which opened in August 2022, celebrates the work of Betty Larom and her husband Neville Main. Their work has become more famous in recent years when in his First Take video, Harry Styles wore a Molly Goddard’s t-shirt featuring a Betty Larom illustration.

Kathy Richards, Art and Design teacher at Gateshead College, said: “Our second year Art and Design students have loved working on the Seven Stories brief as part of their course. They had so much creative freedom and fashion design led to new creative explorations for many of them.

The bonus of seeing their work in the exhibition is a real boost to their confidence and aspirations.

“Seven Stories were so supportive in helping them gain experience of working to a brief and developing skills to meet real-world design challenges. They gave our learners really positive feedback too which is so crucial and we look forward to working with Seven Stories more in the future.”

In addition to the students designing artwork for the exhibition, Charlie Rodham and Holly Jones, both art and design students designed a map of Seven Stories which is being printed for visitors to use.

This project is just one of a series of activities the college and Seven Stories are working together on. Photography students have been working on a live brief to photograph and document the building and surrounding area while first year art and design students have been involved in the ‘Overcoming the Monster’ project aimed at challenging mental health issues.