Aboriginal Challenge

Repton was delighted to play host to six teams from local prep schools for the seventeenth Repton Challenge of Sunday 4th October. This year the focus was on textiles and teams were invited to interpret an aboriginal fable on the origin of water through the medium of textile and performance.

Pupils were able to try out their ideas in workshops on fabric printing, head-dress making and designing musical instruments and weaponry, led by Repton Art staff including our textile specialist Mrs Alison Benson, and assisted by some of our current pupils. A packed afternoon of designing, costume making and practising their moves, culminated in a stunning finale on the cat-walk of the School's Fashion Show, watched by an enthusiastic audience of visiting parents and staff. The teams achieved a remarkable quality of finish to their costumes and many chose to enact the fable on the cat-walk to the accompaniment of suitably antipodean sounds. Highlights included a very accomplished collection from the Abberley Hall team, while Terra Nova not only produced an impressive collection of garments but had thought really carefully about the sourcing of their materials which included items gathered from the School grounds for their character of Earth.

The creative sessions during the day and the finale were watched by Victoria Murphy, an OR who has trained in Fine Art in London, specialising in Textiles at the Royal College of Art, and is now working in the Textiles Industry in the Fashion capital of Milan. She was really impressed both by the enthusiasm of the pupils and the quality of their collections and, after a very difficult decision, decided to award top honours to Foremarke Hall, who not only produced stunning garments but also made all their own music to accompany their models.

For more photos please click here to visit the image gallery