De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) students have earned cash prizes for their innovative and sustainable leather designs thanks to The Leathersellers’ Company.

The livery company offered up 18 prizes totalling £5,000 for students who could think outside of the box to showcase technologically-enhanced and sustainable uses of leather within their designs.

Countour Fashion student Ellie Jones took first place, and a £1,000 prize, when she impressed judges with a hooded cowl neck playsuit and hooded cropped jacket in suede leather. Reportedly, her surface print design was inspired by the relationship between the Fibonacci sequence and the skeletal structure, and used technologically advanced printing methods, including a newly invented technical ink, GRDXKN.