An award-winning couture designer who won Collection of the Year at Graduate Fashion Week is making her one-off, bespoke creations in the heart of Burslem.

Andrea Harrison has been commissioned by The British Council, styled a fashion shoot for a pop singer and had a fashion show in Hong Kong.

After working as a fashion designer in London the 45-year-old moved back to the Midlands to set up her own business in 2017.

From her base in Price Street, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, she designs and makes wedding and special occasion wear.

“What makes me different is that I’m a couture designer,” said Andrea, from Biddulph. “I make one off pieces for customers who often can’t find what they are looking for elsewhere.

“My customers are often women who don’t want to go to bridal stores and want something personal to them. A lot of the time they want something a bit different, sometimes in different colours. They come to me because they can’t find what they’re looking for or want something more luxurious.”

Andrea began by customising clothing for herself and friends when she was still at school then took a BTEC in fashion and textiles at Mid Cheshire College.

“I realised I absolutely loved fashion. I loved all the aspects of it. It kept my interest because it’s so broad based.”

After graduating from a fashion degree at Northampton the mum-of-one exhibited at Graduate Fashion Week and won the prize for Collection of the Year.

That led to her being commissioned by The British Council to travel to Egypt to style a fashion shoot for the singer Natacha Atllas.

The British Council also later commissioned her to put on a fashion show in Hong Kong, after earlier flying her out for a research trip.

When Andrea completed an MA in women’s wear at Central Saint Martins in London she thought she’d completed her university education. But at the end of 2022 she heard about Staffordshire University’s Peter Coates MSc in Entrepreneurship.

As part of the first cohort of the course she has been working on plans to scale her business.

Andrea currently designs and produces all of her own pieces but is now looking to recruit a team of pattern cutters and seamstresses to support her work.

She added: “I wasn’t planning on doing anything like this course at all but after I heard about it I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It’s given me the time and space to work on my business instead of in it.”

Andrea Harrison has entered the High Street Impact, Alumni Business Person of the Year and Small Business of the Year categories of the Staffordshire University Business Awards.