AN innovative skirt fashioned in plastic won a North-East graduate the runners-up prize at an international design contest.

Northumbria University graduate Joanna Poulton carried off the prize in the Challenges of Plastic Crespi Trophy competition with a wraparound skirt in lemon latex.

The 23-year-old, originally from Flint, in North Wales, graduated earlier this year with an upper second class degree in fashion design.

The Crespi Trophy competition was conceived in 1986 with the aim of inspiring up-and-coming fashion designers to take design in plastic to its limits.

The judging panel included famous names of fashion, including Vivienne Westwood and Stefano Gabanna.

Another Northumbria graduate, Alice Druitt, was awarded the fourth prize for a pair of multi-strapped plastic shoes.

The Northumbria graduates carried off the prizes against stiff competition from 22 of the world's top fashion design schools.