BEING friends with an award-winning clothes designer has its benefits, as one Malvern teenager found when she got to go to her school prom in a dress specially made for her.

Chase School student Laura Hazelwood, aged 16, wowed at the school's prom at The Pavilion in Worcester on Thursday, June 27 in a French satin dress made by her friend Edward Jones.

Laura's mum Lisa said her daughter had been friends with Edward - who was named Young Fashion Designer of the Year for the Midlands and North of England 2013 - since primary school, and he had spent almost a year making the dress.

"It's an absolute masterpiece," she said.

"Its French blue satin with a beaded lace bodice, with a full skirt.

“It's absolutely stunning - he's a very talented young man.

"I think she will wear it again.”

Edward, also aged 16, recently won a scholarship to attend RGS Worcester to study his A-Levels in September.