Dieny Itoe - 'Glasgow 1999 Design Medal' winner
20 Nov 2007
Former Cardonald College fashion student, Dieny Itoe, has scooped the prestigious 'Glasgow 1999 Design Medal' at an awards ceremony held in Glasgow's Lighthouse.
Dieny, who studied the HND in Fashion Design at the College beat off competition from all Glasgow colleges and design schools - including Glasgow School of Art, Strathclyde University and Caledonian University design graduates.
The 1999 Design Medal was created as a lasting legacy of Glasgow 1999 - Year of Architecture and Design, and rewards both excellence and innovation in design.
Dieny's work has already started to gain quite a fashion following and her shortlisted soft, feminine designs were influenced by the works of turn of the century illustrators Arthur Rackham and Edmund Dulac.
The ex-Cardonald student, who is now studying at Edinburgh College of Art, was one of two people from Cardonald shortlisted for the award. David Finlay, who studied HND Jewellery, was shortlisted for his collection of brooches, rings and cufflinks.
The finalists for the 1999 Design Medal were selected from a range of design disciplines and were judged by an international team of designers.
Dieny will be back in Cardonald College in December to speak to and inspire the current HND Fashion and Textile students.
Alex McCluskey, Head of Arts, Humanities and Design Faculty at Cardonald College, said: "We are absolutely delighted that a student from the College has won this award. Dieny is a model student and has put in a tremendous amount of effort and hard work to her designs. We are all very proud of her and thrilled that she is the first college student to ever win the award.
"Everyone at the College wishes Dieny the very best for her promising career."
Dieny Itoe, Winner of 1999 Design Medal, 2007, said: "I am thrilled at winning the award - I saw the high standard of the other entries and thought it was compliment enough to be shortlisted. It was a fantastic surprise to win.
"Cardonald College has been great about me spending extra time there to complete my work and throughout my course I have been offered and given very helpful advice. My lecturers have always been very supportive."
"I want to continue to improve my design ability as well as build on my label. Fifi and Ally currently stock some of my designs and I would like to continue to work on collections for them - at present though, my continuing studies are my main priority as I aim to gain as much experience as possible."