Every other year, the Leweston Fashion Show transforms the school into a celebration of creativity, confidence and imagination. Back in January, students from across the school took to the catwalk, showcasing their designs and bringing months of ideas, experimentation and hard work to life.
While the excitement of this year’s show may now be a few months behind us, it is an event worth revisiting. Not least because the Fashion Show captures so much of what makes the Art and Design provision at Leweston special: creativity is encouraged from an early age, technical skills are developed over time, and pupils are given opportunities to take their ideas beyond the classroom and share them with an audience.
Our latest Leweston Schools Podcast goes behind the scenes of this much-loved tradition, with the Headmaster joined by Jemma Lacey, Head of Art and Design. Jemma is also a former Leweston pupil, making her perspective particularly special. She remembers being in Year 12 when the very first Fashion Show took place and reflects on how the event has grown and evolved over the years.
From first stitches to the catwalk
The Fashion Show may be the finished product, but the creative journey begins much earlier.
At Leweston, Art and Design is part of school life from the very beginning. In the Prep School, pupils encounter art and design from Reception, with specialist teaching from Prep 4. They develop skills in areas including drawing from life, three-dimensional work and printmaking, building the confidence to experiment and explore their own ideas.
As pupils progress through the Senior School, the range of creative opportunities expands. Fine Art, Ceramics, Computer Aided Design, Photography, Woodworking and Textiles all form part of the curriculum for younger pupils, with specialist GCSE and A Level courses available in Fine Art, Fashion and Textiles, 3D Design and Photography.
For students drawn to fashion and textiles in particular, this can include everything from textile art, print and surface embellishment to garment construction, digital manipulation and fashion photography. These are practical, creative skills, but they also encourage students to research, experiment, solve problems and develop their own visual identity.
The Fashion Show provides the perfect opportunity to bring those skills together.
A creative journey, not just a finished garment
One of the most exciting aspects of the Fashion Show is seeing the sheer variety of ideas that emerge from our students.
Behind every piece is a creative process: an idea, an inspiration, a sketch, experimentation with materials, decisions about colour and construction, and often a few changes along the way. Students learn that creativity rarely happens perfectly first time — and that perseverance and resilience are just as important as the original idea.
This is particularly evident in the run-up to the Fashion Show, when the Art and Design Department comes alive with fittings, rehearsals and last-minute adjustments. There is the nervous anticipation of students preparing to walk the catwalk, the concentration of those making final changes to garments and the unmistakable buzz backstage before the lights go up.
And then comes the moment when students step out in front of an audience.
Confidence on and off the catwalk
For many pupils, taking part in the Fashion Show is about far more than showcasing a piece of clothing.
Walking onto a catwalk in front of an audience takes courage. It asks students to put themselves — and something they have helped to create — in the spotlight. For some, this can be a genuinely transformative experience.
The show provides a space for pupils to express themselves, take creative risks and discover that they are capable of more than they perhaps realised. It builds confidence and resilience, while also teaching the importance of collaboration and supporting others.
And importantly, the Fashion Show is not only for aspiring fashion designers. Students contribute in different ways, whether through designing, making, modelling, photography, technical support or helping to bring the event together.
A home for creativity
The opportunities available to Leweston pupils are supported by dedicated facilities within the Norfolk Art and Design Centre. The centre houses specialist studios for Fine Art, Textiles, Photography and 3D Design, alongside dedicated Sixth Form studio space.
Facilities include a sewing studio, ceramics studio, photographic dark room, creative graphics suite, Fine Art studios, resistant materials workshop, and 3D printing and laser cutting facilities.
These spaces allow pupils to move beyond simply learning about creative techniques and instead use them in meaningful, hands-on projects.
There are also creative clubs and activities, exhibitions, gallery visits and opportunities to work with visiting artists. For pupils with a particular passion for Art and Design, the school’s Art and Design Pathway offers additional specialist support, masterclasses, independent projects, trips and portfolio preparation.
For those who are considering a future in the creative industries, this can provide an important bridge between school and further study.
Looking beyond Leweston
The skills developed through Art and Design at Leweston can have a lasting impact well beyond school.
Students have progressed to foundation and degree courses at institutions including UWE, Camberwell, Brighton, Chelsea, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts and Falmouth. Leweston’s fashion and textiles alumni have also gone on to work in the creative industries, including with names such as Vivienne Westwood, Selfridges, Tom Ford, Elizabeth Arden and Sleek Magazine.
For GCSE Fashion and Textile Design, students develop portfolios that explore textile techniques and skills before creating garments and other textile outcomes. They also investigate historical and contemporary designers and their methods, with opportunities for gallery and museum visits and workshops with visiting designers.
At Sixth Form, Fashion and Textile Design continues to offer a broad approach, with students developing skills in areas such as fabric manipulation, print, garment construction, Adobe Photoshop and screen printing.
The result is an education that combines creativity with practical and transferable skills — giving students the confidence to develop an idea, refine it, communicate it and ultimately bring it to life.
Celebrating the Fashion Show
So, although January's Fashion Show may now feel like a distant memory, it is worth taking a moment to celebrate what the event represents.
It is a snapshot of the creativity that takes place at Leweston every day: from the first explorations of art in the Prep School, through developing technical skills in the Senior School, to the increasingly ambitious and independent work of our GCSE and Sixth Form students.
And perhaps that is what makes the Fashion Show such a special Leweston tradition. It is not simply about the clothes on the catwalk. It is about ideas, individuality, confidence, resilience and the joy of making something that did not exist before.
To hear more about the history of the Leweston Fashion Show, Jemma Lacey’s own memories of the very first show, and what goes on behind the scenes, listen to the latest episode of the Leweston Schools Podcast.
