Students from Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) are celebrating after another successful run at Graduate Fashion Week (GFW).
The annual event, taking place at Truman Brewery, London, showcases the best of graduate work from fashion courses across the UK.
This year, a total of 12 AUB students on BA (Hons) Fashion, BA (Hons) Fashion Communication and BA (Hons) Textiles Design were shortlisted in 12 categories.
Jonny Langridge was Highly Commended for his project, Ourchive, a new platform designed to catalogue and share photographs, memories and keepsakes that might otherwise be lost, which he created on the BA (Hons) Fashion Communication course.
“I was really pleased to have achieved Highly Commended at GFW,” Jonny says. “Ourchive started from something personal, finding my late grandparents' stamp collection with no proper way to preserve it, so having that recognised at GFW among the 12 shortlisted students was a real win. It has given the concept credibility, and the New Business Award opened new questions for me which pushed me to think more like an entrepreneur.”
From the personal inspiration, Jonny applied all the skills he’d learned on the Fashion Communication course to develop Ourchive, including an understanding of trend research, graphic design and branding.
“This has basically given me the tools to communicate how Ourchive looks, feels, and given me an understanding also of brand positioning and digital marketing,” he explains. “It's less ‘a fashion product’ and more a brand built using fashion industry thinking and skill set, applied to the broader idea of family and personal archiving.”
This commendation at GFW adds to earlier successes for Ourchive, as Jonny was named one of the winners of the AUB Innovation Award 2026, which recognises students demonstrating an exceptional approach to problem-solving with ideas or products that have significant development potential.
“Winning the Innovation Award felt like a real turning point – it's given Ourchive proper backing and three months of funded development, which is exactly what an early-ventures concept needs at this stage.
The Innovation Award earned Jonny a free place at the Creative Business Incubator at AUB’s Innovation Studio, allowing him to scale the business model.
Corinna Budnarowska, Course Leader for BA (Hons) Fashion Communication, says, “The Fashion Communication team are delighted that Jonny received Highly Commended for the Fashion New Business Award. His project ‘Ourchive’ optimises the thoughtful approach that our students take towards fashion as an industry.
“Jonny’s research into the impact of digitalisation and AI on the fashion industry led him to explore the archiving process and how important it is to collect and preserve physical archive of memories and memorabilia, both personally and professionally.
“Fashion is grounded in storytelling, and fashion archives are the heart and soul of a brand story. Jonny has researched and refined this project during the year, demonstrating a high level of commitment and excellent curation skills. The result was a rich, well-rounded business idea that has the scope to be adopted by brands and individuals everywhere. We are proud of Jonny for representing the course with such professionalism, and this was reflected in the judge’s feedback for Jonny’s presentation.”
Meanwhile, BA (Hons) Fashion’s Maeve Dean was shortlisted in a total of three categories for her project, The Seeds of Time; namely, the Knit Portfolio Award, the Tailoring Award, and the Hilary Alexander Sustainable Trailblazer Collection Award.
“The Seeds of Time was sparked by the current economic climate of the UK/Ireland and the effects of the industrial revolution on agricultural industries and communities,” Maeve explains.
“The rapid industrialisation of farming resulted in an unprecedented loss of jobs and, in turn, skills. I aimed to refocus the public's attention towards heritage skills and craft and celebrate, considered, slow production.
“Seeing my work leave such an impression on people is very rewarding. I can only hope it inspires others to pursue similar research.”
Nominated for the Tailoring Award alongside Maeve was Mayo Kanamori, who went on to take home the Silver Award at the GFW Gala Show. Mayo’s collection has since been featured in Hello Fashion magazine.
Other AUB talent has been recognised by the media, including Halley Richardson, who was featured in an article in 10 Magazine.
Graduate Fashion Week 2026 took place at the Truman Brewery, London from 15–18 June 2026.
