Fashion designers aim to be a cut above!

in the running Designer Aisha Ventura 

TWO Huddersfield Technical College students are hoping to cut a dash in a national fashion competition.

Aisha Ventura, 27, of Milnsbridge, and Tracy Lewis, 35, of Almondbury, have won places in the regional heats of The Clotheshow Live's Can U Cut It? competition, which promotes creative and technical skills in fashion.

Both women are studying for a City and Guilds qualification in Fashion and Fashionwear.

They will have garments judged by senior industry figures on June 17 at the Huddersfield Centre of Textiles Excellence, on Red Doles Lane.

Each finalist will be marked on their design and technical abilities, including pattern cutting, grading, and garment construction.

There will be five regional heats in June, with 60 colleges entering a total of more than 200 students. The 40 regional winners will then be invited on a VIP trip to the grand final, which will take place at the 2005 Clotheshow Live on December 2.

There they will see their winning entries modelled on the main catwalk in front of 5,000 people.

Can U Cut It? is being run by Skillfast-UK, the clothing sector's skills council. It is sponsored by the CAPITB Trust, which is the national training organisation for the British clothing industry.

Its chairman, Tom Edge, said: "Technical skills are what employers within the clothing industry require from new recruits.

"It is so important that young people learn technical skills as well as design skills."