The dramatic designs currently gracing the store's window aren't for sale, though... they are the creation of a Stannington man now being tipped as the next face of British womenswear.

Aged just 22, former King Edward's pupil Nabil el Nayal's future looks golden.

Last week, he stepped on to the stage at British Graduate Fashion Week to take the womenswear designer of the year title – one of the biggest awards for industry newcomers.

Nabil is hoping he's following in the footsteps of Julien Macdonald, who took the same title back in 1991 – and is now a household name.

He owes it all to the most important woman in his life – his mum Victoria.

"She is my best friend and has always encouraged me to follow my dream," says Nabil, who lived in Syria, his father's homeland, for the first 14 years of his life.

It was Nabil's passion for art and design that led Victoria to make the massive decision to move the family to her home city of Sheffield.

"From the age of three I wanted to be was a fashion designer. The first ever dress I made was for my mum. I took down the net curtains and sewed them into a gown – I was only six," says Nabil.

"But at school in Syria it was unheard of for a boy to choose that as a career. It was a traditional environment. Boys were supposed to want to be doctors or lawyers. The educational system put hardly any emphasis on the arts.

"Mum realised that, for me to develop my creative side, the family had to come back to the UK. My parents and my brother and sister made big sacrifices for me and I am so grateful to them."

Victoria is now a teaching assistant in Sheffield schools and husband Ghassan, a former Sheffield metallurgy student, lives between the family home in Stannington and his job as a lecturer in Saudi Arabia.

But Nabil's artistic abilities flourished at King Edward's School and gained him a place at Manchester School of Art - where just last week he was awarded a first class BA honours in fashion.

The news came just days after his triumph at British Graduate Fashion Week.

Nabil was one of only 20 graduates from thousands across the UK to be shortlisted for the awards – a celebration of the country's up-and-coming fashion talent.

Each finalist got to see their creations modelled on the catwalk at Graduate Fashion Week's Gala in front of the judges – Julien Macdonald, top model Claudia Schiffer and Elle editor Lorraine Candy.

The star-studded audience included designers Zandra Rhodes, Jeff Banks and Ozwald Boateng, models Agyness Deyn and Erin O'Connor, plus a host of celebrities.

"Just being asked to be in the show was brilliant," says Nabil. "We styled the models ourselves, so I had to run around buying the right accessories.
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