HUDDERSFIELD town centre shoppers will be able to browse a unique collection of original fashion from tomorrow – and it’s all the work of Huddersfield University students.

Until the end of April Kingsgate shopping centre is playing host to Fashion Star 11, a competition to showcase garments created by the young designers of tomorrow. Members of the public will be asked to vote for their favourite.

A similar competition two years ago proved to be so popular it attracted 4,000 votes.

Six contestants were chosen for this year from fashion design students currently working on their final year collections at the university and each was invited to submit a completed outfit.

“The competition is really good exposure for them,” said fashion tutor Claire Evans. “It also gives the people of Huddersfield a chance to see what we are doing here. They get a chance to see the garments really close up and get a taste of what’s being predicted for the future.”

Students were asked to come up with their own brief and give full rein to their imagination.

The challenge has been organised by Basilica Marketing on behalf of Kingsgate and the winning student will win a top prize of £500.

The six finalists – bidding for shoppers’ votes – are:

Katie Webb, 22. Her collection is based on the oriental art of paper folding, origami. Using 87 separate layers of silk paper fabric and foil leather, Katie says the evening gown she chose for the competition has a “simple, Japanese and minimal feel about it.” She spent her sandwich year working for a womenswear company and would like to work in design after graduating.

Leah Greenwell, 22. A fashion and textile student, Leah says she was inspired by the Ballet Russes to produce an ethereal, antique collection. Her ‘Kingsgate’ dress in silk jersey and georgette, has a hand-knitted top which she says “took hours and hours” along with knotted straps.

Leah plans to look for work as a designer and spent her year out at a fancy dress manufacturer. “Some of my designs were sold in George,’’ she said. “It was great fun.”

Olivia Priestley, 20. Basing her collection on the CS Lewis Narnia stories, Olivia’s competition outfit is a glamorous ‘Snow Queen’ dress in hand-beaded silk crepe de chine with a fur fabric jacket. The fur came from Huddersfield company Yorkshire Fur Fabrics and the beading represented many hours of painstaking work with £150 spent on beads.

Grace Sherriff, 23. Inspired by the movie Virgin Suicides, Grace says she wanted to create a collection of soft, feminine garments using home-spun textiles, patchwork and prints.

“The film is very sweet and innocent when you first watch it, but has a dark element and is set in the 1970s,’’ she said. “My collection turns childrenswear into adult clothing.”

Suzi Greening, 22. The film Glorious 39 was the basis for Suzi’s 1930s-inspired final collection outfits, including the gunmetal grey tailored jumpsuit and red leather jacket chosen for display in Kingsgate.

“It’s a mixture of the beautiful bias cutting of the era and the harshness of the red leather,” said Suzi, who used laser cutting to create a lace effect on the jacket.

During her year in industry, Suzi went to a design company in London and worked on model Sophie Dahl’s wedding gown. She wants to work in pattern cutting and garment construction.

Hannah Chantry, 21. Influenced by the seaside, candy floss, peppermint rock and striped beach tents, Hannah created a collection in cotton candy colours.

The georgette dress that will be seen in Kingsgate is prettily pink and hand beaded.

“It took me nine hours to bead the skirt,” said Hannah, who spent her year out working for a childrens’ fancy dress company.