Forza fashion for Hemel girl

Callie Walters, 19, was chosen alongside three classmates out of 700 students at the Fashion Retail Acadamy in London, after pitching their ideas to Sir Philip Green.

They are competing in a worldwide future retail challenge at the World Retail Congress in Rome this week.

She said: “It’s going to be incredible pitching to these big names in the industry, the kind of people we dream of becoming.”

Callie landed her job, in the buying department at Topshop, on the same day as her graduation, where she was also awarded with student of the year.

The Retail Future Challenges is designed to promote future talent in the retail industry.

This year, students have to select an iconic figure or celebrity from their home country, and create a ‘brand identity’ and ‘retail concept’ based upon their chosen icon.

Callie’s team chose singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, and created a fashion label called SUMS, inspired by his grunge style.

Their concept is to follow Sheeran on his music tour, opening a series of pop-up shops wherever he plays.

Sir Green, owner of the Topshop and Miss Selfridge empire Arcadia Group, thought that their idea was good and said:”It’s about time London won and if they do, it could be a great springboard to a bright future in retail.”