After 9 months of planning with a group of Playmakers, the Fashion Show for Crawley took place at County Mall Shopping Centre on 12 April 2025. It was a joyous event which sold out and successfully showcased the work of 5 designers including the lead artists local fashion designers Beth Williams and Sophie Merriner. It involved 10 local people as models (aged from 90 – 18 years old) and 9 dressers.
Alongside the development of the fashion show, we ran workshops with members of the Chagossian and Afghan community led by Mauritian Artist Cee Bolakee and Mah-e-nau Rafiq. The garments created feature in an exhibition at our pop up space at County Mall shopping centre until May 25.
‘I just want to say a massive thank you to Creative Crawley and this group as it is the first time ever I have worked with people from my own community and I have learned so much from you and absolutely loved it’ Workshop Participant
The feedback from audiences and participants on the beacon event was overwhelmingly positive and it was a fantastic way to finish 24-25.
“It’s been a real pleasure meeting and working with the Creative Crawley team and your support and guidance has been invaluable. You have given me the confidence and the motivation to persevere with my career in fashion, and I cannot thank you enough for this. I hope Creative Crawley continues to flourish and I get to work with you guys on more projects in the future!” – Sophie Merriner, Fashion Designer curating the show, Fashion Show, April 2025
“I just wanted to say thank you again for giving me this opportunity to work on this project, it was an amazing experience and everyone was a pleasure to work with.” – Model, Fashion Show, April 2025
