Middlesex Fashion Communications graduate Skye Salmeron hailed One to Watch at new talent showcase

Flexibility is the strength of the Fashion Communication and Styling course at Middlesex: they get excited about collaboration, they bring together a network and create a team,” says Fashion Communication lecturer Helen Delany

Fashion Communication and Styling graduate Skye Salmeron was recognised as one of 30 Ones to Watch at this year’s D&AD New Blood Festival – an award for exhibitors who “truly stand out from the crowd”.

The annual creative, design and advertising graduate showcase in association with Adobe featured displays from 45 universities, talks, workshops and networking at Protein Studios in Shoreditch.

Skye’s striking image is inspired, she says, by the trend for wellness and caring rituals, young women rejecting the trend of going out and voluntarily becoming homebodies.

The model in the photo is Brianna, a second year Fashion Design student at Middlesex. Skye worked with a professional photographer; and the make-up artist was a student from another university.

The garments were intentionally cobbled together from different places to represent the recycling of trends from past decades – the leotard borrowed from Middlesex, the tights and accessories Skye’s own. The platinum-white bob wig was inspired by a light fixture that Skye wanted to turn into a headpiece. Skye says the photos, with their bright colour palette and pops of colour are “my favourite work I’ve ever done”.

Skye grew up in Nottingham and was doing her GCSEs when Covid struck so exams were cancelled. She thinks that for her generation the pandemic “had a massive impact on how we see each other,” leaving many feeling isolated.

She knew she wanted to pursue a creative subject. Fashion comms and styling gave an opportunity to learn about many aspects of the fashion industry – brand marketing, art direction or editorial.

At Middlesex, she says, Programme Leader in Fashion Communication and Styling Alun Davies helped her with industry links and developing a deeper knowledge of how the business works – reaching out to model agencies, learning through doing by assisting on shoots. She did a PR internship at creative and culture communications specialist Agency Eleven, during which she helped organise a fashion show and attended several others.

She overcame an initial reluctance at posting her own work on social media and has tailored her Instagram with a view to developing and marketing herself as a brand, knowing what her USP is and where she aligns with different brands. She’s now finding photographers and brands she likes are reaching out to here, “and that’s confirmed that I do have a place in the industry. I need to keep going, keep posting”.

Lecturer in Fashion Communication Helen Delany, who is also a fine artist and during her career has worked as a graphic designer and as an art director in media and publishing, says that she thinks students on the programme “get a real grounding in creative direction, and that’s where their strength lives.

“They cross-pollinate between all the disciplines. They also work in music, film and entertainment. They get the principle of what design is about.

“They bring together a network and create a team - they get excited about collaboration, and D&AD is another leap towards that. I think flexibility is the strength of the FCS course at Middlesex. This is what we do in industry anyway – we work in teams”.

Trustee of D&AD and Global Brand Design Manager at HSBC, Lánre Adeleye, said that the New Blood Festival “matters so much. It's a place that treats junior creatives like they already belong, not like they're waiting for permission to exist!”

Rose O’Mahoney, Senior Designer at brand design agency Springetts said: “My dad first took me to D&AD New Blood when I was 17. It was one of my first glimpses into the industry.

“Since then, I've been back nearly every year. I don't go for the polished portfolios. I go for the handmade signs, the sketchbooks full of ideas… the reminder of what it feels like to be at the beginning.

“These spaces aren't just for students. They give us something back too. They challenge us, and I firmly believe our industry is stronger because of it”.

Middlesex’s stand at D&AD New Blood festival, held at Protein Studios in Shoreditch, showcased work by students from five courses – Illustration; Graphic Design; Fashion Communication & Styling; Advertising, PR & Branding; and Digital Media & Communications.

Learn more about Art and design at Middlesex University.