University News Last updated 13 June 2014
First-year Jewellery Design student Ruth Hallows has been chosen by Argos to produce an exclusive jewellery collection, to be sold in the retailers stores nationwide and online from January 2015.
Ruth, 32, from Darlington in County Durham; beat off competition from over 40 students at the internationally-renowned School of Jewellery, part of Birmingham City University, to design a collection for the UK's largest jewellery retailer Argos.
Ruth Hallows, student at the School of Jewellery, said: "I'm thrilled that Argos picked my collection. To be recognised by such a prominent retailer means a lot to me and I am really looking forward to seeing my designs in stores around the country."
Earlier this year, Argos challenged the School's first year students to design a four-piece capsule jewellery collection reflecting Argos' forecasted trends for spring/summer 2015. The students were then given four weeks to create prototypes for their collection to present to the Argos jewellery buying team.
Ruth added: "It has been a great experience learning how to design jewellery for a national audience and create a collection to go into production. It really is going to get my jewellery designing career off to a flying start."
Alice Rigby, Jewellery Buying Manager for Argos, said: "The students came back with some fantastic designs. We were blown away by their creativity. However Ruth's beautiful 'Pearl Swirl' jewellery collection really stood out to us as a winning range. She's clearly thought very hard about what would appeal to our customers and considered upcoming jewellery trends. We think our customers are going to love this collection as much as we do."
Ruth will work for six months alongside Argos' jewellery buying team and manufacturer Optima, where she will spend time learning the process of how her jewellery collection will be developed from design through to production.
Zoe Robertson, Course Director for BA (Hons) Jewellery Design and Related Products at the School of Jewellery, said: "Working with Argos has been a wonderful opportunity for our first year students to get a real 'hands-on' experience of creating jewellery for a top retailer.
"Argos has offered them guidance and advice on upcoming trends, pricing, materials to use and thinking about the end customer. It's really beneficial for our students to learn about the jewellery retail market through a well-established brand, and to gain expert knowledge about future career opportunities."
Alice Rigby, from Argos, added: "As a business we are committed to supporting young talent and the next generation of UK jewellery designers. Ruth's collection will join us next year and sit alongside our established UK-based 'Designers at Argos' collection.
Ruth Hallows’ 'Pearl Swirl' collection will be available from January 2015 in Argos stores nationwide and on argos.co.uk.