VietNamNet Bridge - When Vietnamese student Le Thi Le Thuy from the University of East London collaborated with household fashion brand George--to make an affordable version of her designer dress available through stores and online outlets, she hadn’t realized quite how popular a design it was – the run of over 2000 dresses sold out almost immediately it went on sale.

Fashion graduate, Le Thi Le Thuy, first came to the attention of the British fashion world after winning the Graduate Fashion Week ‘This Morning Viewers’ award, voted for by viewers of ITV’s flagship daytime show.

The winning dress, which comes from Le Thuy’s collection, 'Afternoon Tea', inspired by the classic imagery of an English afternoon tea and the ornate floral designs of Chinese pottery, won the online vote by a landslide according to the show’s producers.

Le Thuy was greeted with rapturous applause by the audience of 600 strong, when the result was announced at Graduate Fashion Week’s Gala show, following the program.

Earlier this month the simplified and highly-affordable knee-length diffusion version of that much-lauded dress became available to buy through George, retailing at just £18.

“I was very pleased with the resulting dress. George had done a fantastic job in making it look as original as my winning design. I still can’t believe how popular my dress became; even though I won last year people still remember my winning design,” Le Thuy said.

“My inspiration came from design elements like the flowers and ornaments from Chinese potteries. I love English afternoon tea, but imagined using Chinese tea sets for it. I wanted to fuse them together in a way, which suggested a meeting of styles between the Orient and the West,” she added.

 “We’re all delighted that Le’s talents as a fashion designer have been recognized in this way, it’s exciting to know that her hard work and creativity has been translated into a product which has proved so popular. I was one of the lucky ones who managed to order one of these dresses before they sold out,” said Catherine Harper, Dean of UEL’s School of Arts and Digital Industries.

“We are thrilled for Le Thuy and think the dress looks fantastic, and, having sold out so quickly our customers clearly think so, too," commented Womenswear designer at George, Amanda Wilkinson.

PV