Second year Fashion and Textiles student Amy Astley is one of 10 finalists in the Young Handbag Designer of the Year Competition 2011.The finals will take place on Tuesday 6 December at the Clothes Show Live. 

The winning student will receive  £1000 towards the cost of attending an Art and Design Foundation Course and £1000 for their Art/Design Department at school/college.

Amy heard about the competition from Fashion and Textiles teacher Michaela Harrison. Over the summer break Amy created the ideas and designs for the handbag and entered the deigns in October. It wasn’t  until the 1st of November that Amy started to create the final piece and by the 20th the design had been submitted, a very fast turnaround!

The competition brief was to design the perfect clutch bag for the party season, Amy’s  inspiration for the design came from Liquorice Allsorts, the similarities can be seen in the final design which Amy describes as bold, fun and practical. 

On the 6th of December Amy will attend the Clothes Show Live with her parents as a VIP award finalist. Amy has been assigned a model to wear her design during the finalist’s cat walk show, where judges will announce the 2010 Young Handbag Designer of the Year.

“I’m really happy to be selected as a finalist, it’s been a lot of hard work. I would love to win the competition, but I feel making the finals is already a great achievement” Amy Astley.