Footie-loving fashion student kicks off career in style
A love of football drives fashion student’s goal of setting up her own label. Tony Henderson reports
Newcastle United fan Liv Ashton’s passion for fashion and football has proved a winner.
Her longstanding love of football strips features in her collection which earned a highly commended award in Northumbria University’s Graduate Fashion Week.
Football jerseys acquired from a North Shields charity shop were transformed into a poncho by Liv, 23, who graduates in fashion later this month.
She also used football scarves to create a jacket in her ‘Giz a Fiver’ collection, which was included in the Northumbria Catwalk event held in London.
Liv, who grew up in Esh Winning in County Durham where football loyalties are split, has her own collection of strips.
She said: “I wanted to create something that was an authentic representation of working class culture and how I grew up. Because I’m from a small pit village in County Durham, football and Newcastle United were naturally a big part of that.
“I am passionate about football and I have always loved strips.”
Her favourite from her personal strip wardrobe is the Juventus 2018 home strip and for Newcastle the club’s 1997–1998 away jersey.
For current wear her choice is United captain Bruno’s shirt. With Newcastle awash with black and white on match days, Liv says: “I am interested in strips in terms of celebrating working class culture and the way they provide a sense of community.”
She is now working with the university’s Graduate Futures team which helps to set up businesses and has created her own Giz a Fiver label which will reflect footballing influences.
Sarah Walton, director of fashion programmes at Northumbria University, said it was "incredibly important" for students to tap into their own background and experiences when creating designs.
"We find that some of the most successful projects we have are about a student's cultural heritage," she said.
“Increasingly, many of our students are entrepreneurial and have aspirations of starting their own brand, so they also receive first-class mentorship from our Graduate Futures team with support and advice on everything from a business plan to marketing.”
While working on her final designs Liv had to face the challenge of temporarily losing the sight in one eye due to chronic migraines.
She said: “I found it really hard to pull back and allow myself to recover, but that’s what I had to do.”
Liv’s work was featured in London alongside 21 other Northumbria Fashion students, due to graduate this month.
Vibrant colours and handwoven textiles, influenced by Sri Lanka’s handloom tradition, dominated the womenswear collection developed by Methulie Jayawickrama, who won the Hilary Alexander Sustainable Trailblazer Collection Award.
Judges picked out Nell Linihan-Patel’s collection of garments, printed to represent the hues of a cityscape between sunset and dusk, as overall winner of the Northumbria Catwalk.
Emily Kitson’s creations, which include an adaptable garment for people who live with a stoma bag, won her praise.
Beth Harrison-Frater’s knitwear won her a place on the shortlist for the Fashion Portfolio Award and she went on to win a nationwide competition with Japanese knit production company, SHIMA, which involves an all-expenses-paid two-week trip to Japan to gain experience while working with the company.
Ocean Bryson was chosen as one of the finalists for the Catwalk Colour Award with Coloro at Graduate Fashion Week, the pattern cutting skills of Rose Jordan saw her make the shortlist for the Fashion Illustration Award, and a capsule collection for Autumn/Winter 2025, designed by Kamile Kartunaviciute, has been named the winner of the Next Graduate Fashion Foundation Design and Trend Competition.