Oldham mum Melissa Young wins Fashion Designer of the Year

Oldham fashion designer Melissa Young has won Fashion Designer of the Year at the Liverpool Lifestyle Awards after years of nominations and public voting. The award, presented by lifestyle magazine publisher Amanda Moss, recognises Young's work through her brand Lissa MJY Couture, which she founded to make beautiful fashion accessible to everyone.

Young hosted a fashion show at the awards ceremony featuring models from Nova Models wearing her handmade designs. Her journey in fashion began in 2013, creating wedding, bridesmaid and prom dresses from her Oldham base. She launched a ready-to-wear range to make her designs more affordable, driven by her desire to bring high-end fashion to her community.

Beyond her design work, Young hosts an annual charity fashion show raising money for SHINE, which supports people with spina bifida and hydrocephalus-conditions her son lives with. Speaking about her award win, Young described the moment as 'surreal', admitting she was more in shock than emotional despite her friend crying at the ceremony.

Young's passion for fashion started young, designing wedding dresses as a child growing up on a council estate. Her school careers advisor helped her realise she could study fashion at college and inspired her to become a teacher herself. 'When you look at Vogue and see Prada and Vivienne Westwood, I wanted to aspire to that but bring it to my community where people from all walks of life can have a design like that,' she explained.