Graduate designer, Laura Rowe, who lives in Gerrans on the Roseland Peninsula, is asking for help from residents. She has entered Vogue’s Young Talented Designer of the Year competition with her range of swimsuits and would love to have help from Roseland Online readers.

Laura told Roseland Online, “I entered the competition as it is a fantastic opportunity to get my designs noticed on an international level. Ideally it may lead to other work and to help start my own swimwear business.”

Graduate work in the fashion industry is very tricky to come by, so this may be a way of Laura circumnavigating the inevitable red-tape and short track her to become noticed.

Laura added, “Unless you have an endless pot of money, or are prepared to work for nothing and live in London, getting work in the industry is hard. I specialise in swimwear and the market in the UK is more limited in that field, which is of course something I’d like to change. Having found most basic bikini shapes and swimsuits on the shelf a complete bore, I started designing them myself and, in doing so, suddenly found what I love doing and have a real passion for. So, in my graduate collection I experimented with seamless suits to reduce ‘bulk’ areas women are conscious about, anyway, never mind the added pressure of being in swimwear.”

You can see more of Laura’s work and vote for her by following this link and we at Roseland Online wish Laura the best of luck!