Croydon’s annual fashion extravaganza finished last Sunday night after nine days of stylish events in the town centre.

The Fashion Festival, which ran from June 20, showcased the brightest new talent in the borough.

On Wednesday, aspiring young designers from Croydon College’s sixth form strutted their hottest new creations on the Whitgift Centre catwalk.

Visitors were treated to cutting-edge green designs as designers showed how creative and outrageous they could be with recycled materials in the Wear not Waste show.

Bollywood also came to town with stylish Indian designs.

Sewing classes showed fashionistas how to revamp their tired wardrobes and people were treated to makeovers in style workshops in Centrale.

The festival also played host to a range of other activities with makeovers and competitions on offer, plus live music from the Croydon Live stable including IDMC Gospel choir, 308 and Ava Leigh.

The centre’s marketing executive Ian Harvey said: “The show went off very well indeed, we thought it was absolutely fantastic and were delighted to be hosting the event.

“A number of retailers reported a rise in sales during the Croydon Fashion Festival week, including River Island who sold out of featured outfits and Body Shop who saw a direct increase in skin care and make-up products as a result of their exposure on the catwalks models.”

The fashion show is the brainchild of Croydon Business Improvement District (BID), and will be followed by food and Christmas festivals later in the year.

Ros Morgan, BID Manager said: “Croydon Fashion Festival 2009 has been an unparalleled success.

“The free series of events attracted large numbers of shoppers to the Town Centre. Footfall was up by 20.9 per cent on the average for 2009 so far and was the 3rd busiest week of the year to date. This is fantastic news for local business in a difficult financial climate. We’re very proud to have been able to put on such a good show and are looking forward to enjoying more success with the Croydon Food Festival which is coming up this autumn.”