Today I gave a presentation of my portfolio, explanation of my design aesthetic and a little background about myself to Newcastle College's Art & Design Foundation students.
The whole experience was very rewarding, looking back at the sea of confused, apprehensive students uncertain of which step to take next reminded myself of a time when I too was in that very position. The students are already specialising in fashion studies, but need to decide whether or not they plan on progressing onto university to study from a range of fashion disciplines. Everything from fashion design, textiles, communication to visual merchandising. Back when I was at the students level, I was filled with worries such as, will I be able to actually produce BA quality garments, will I be able to keep up with the work load, will I be able to get my head around pattern cutting?!
I began by explaining my portfolio is very digital, as it is the design handwriting and aesthetic I have developed over my years in education. Working digitally is a way of working which the fashion industry is finally adapting itself to, miles behind the rest of many industries. The students identified with this way of working and asked many questions about how I complete my line ups and specification drawings. What software is being used to produce them and how long it took me to get to the level I'm currently at. As I mentioned earlier it was nice to get such a response from the students and hopefully inspire and answer the questions many of them had.
