Glasgow 1999 Design Medal

Dieny Itoe © Mary Knox

Glasgow 1999 Design Medal, annually rewards excellence and innovation to the best design student from Glasgow’s higher and further education institutions. An annual exhibition is run in conjunction with the award.

Glasgow 1999 Design Medal 2007 Winner

Model turned fashion designer, Dieny Itoe, was the 2007 winner of the Glasgow 1999 Design Medal. “With design talent such as Dieny’s, things are looking good for Scotland’s creative future,” Nick Barley, Director of The Lighthouse.

23 year old Dieny Itoe came to the UK as a young girl and grew up in Tain in northern Scotland. After becoming one of the country’s most sought after models, working for a range of leading brands and glossy magazines, she went on to study fashion at Cardonald College in Glasgow. Now pursuing her studies at Edinburgh College of Art, she already has designs on sale in fashion outlets. In addition to the prestigious Glasgow 1999 Design Medal Dieny also won a £1,000 travel bursary to develop future collections.

Dieny won the Glasgow 1999 Design Medal for a collection inspired by the work of Arthur Rackham, the artist perhaps best known for his illustrations of J M Barrrie’s Peter Pan. “Dieny has produced a sophisticated collection, incorporating a wide range of base fabrics”, says Lucy McEachen organiser of the Glasgow 1999 Design Medal. “The garments are beautifully cut and finished to a very high standard. Dieny has a great future ahead of her a fashion designer.”

Also commended by the judges were two graduates of The Glasgow School of Art – product design engineer, Kerry Briggs, who has developed a device to help re-grow jaw bones after surgery for cancer and  Mirren Rosie for a powerful piece of image based visual communication.


The award was presented at The Lighthouse by Jurgen Bey, legendary founder of Droog Design.