2011 FAD SUMMER SCHOOL

After beating one hundred other young people for a place in the second stage of Fashion Futures 2, the FAD finalists faced their biggest challenge yet – to create a collection for the London Fashion Week catwalk in just five days.

Working alongside fashion tutors and student mentors at The University of East London they spent a week re-drafting ideas, creating patterns from scratch and sewing together their final creations.

The twenty five finalists, aged between 16 – 19 years old, are from many boroughs across London and Manchester. On Tuesday 20th September they will go head to head to present their design achievements at the 2011 FAD Junior Awards. On the night they will compete for top industry placements in front of a jury panel of retail and design professionals.

Visit our website again next month, when the winners and runners-up will be announced at the 2011 FAD Junior Awards & catwalk show. The event will take place for the fourth year running at Vauxhall Fashion Scout as part of their official schedule for London Fashion Week.

In the meantime scroll down to see more photos of the finalists in action and read their thoughts on the FAD experience so far.

“This week has been really intense, but because you have to get things done it really makes you push your talent, your skills and your ability to get it finished.” Sabine Bindere, Barking & Dagenham College

“I have enjoyed the whole FAD experience so far. I liked the process of making the garment but I also like talking to the other finalists and seeing how the same collections at the V&A inspired everyone to come up with very different ideas.” Gemma Halliwell, Bury College

“I think, with the government making cuts, it’s going to be a lot harder for people like me to make their way forward, or get the education they want. A lot of people will choose not to go to university because they can’t be sure there is a future ahead of them. With a course like this it shows them that you can pick it up; you can move ahead and meet people in industry. You shouldn’t just give up your dream because of the changes taking place around you.” Jasmine Brunell, City & Islington 6th Form College

“Since I started coming to FAD on a Saturday, I feel like I’ve had a lot more opportunities, a lot more stuff for my portfolio. It’s been really helpful.” Shaunette Vincent, Our Lady’s Convent High School

“I think I have learnt a lot. As a person I’ve learnt to interact with people; you’ve got to make friends. I think I have also learnt a lot about time management, how to use new machines and different ways to approach problems.” Hafsa Meho, Pimlico Academy

“I’ve learnt that I can actually do it. At first I thought I can’t do this I should just give up, but you can’t really give up here. I’ve basically built confidence with the machines but also meeting new people because I’m the only one here form my college.” Arbresha Hisenaj, St Francis Xavier 6th Form College

"Apprenticeships and schemes for young people, like the ones FAD do, are a really good way for industry to help. The amount of times you apply for work placements only to be told you are too young, to come back after uni, so I think more things for younger people just finishing college – something to help them know exactly what they are going to do from a younger age and take a route into it would be great." Holly Cooney, St Philomena’s

“It’s awesome. I’m so excited I never expected to get through. It’s a really cool opportunity, because it’s just like having A-levels squeezed into 12 weeks. We get to meet people in the industry and uni teachers and get first hand information.” Tamzin O'Garro, Parliament Hill School

“The government should work alongside the industry to create more specialist workshops, like FAD, to introduce students at a younger age to industry. When I started the workshops I was worried that my lack of knowledge would mean I’d struggle. An insight into the industry, to technical terms and procedures, helps someone understand a job a whole lot better.” Nathan O'Brien, Tameside College