This week, the young people began to work on their own Tastemakers_Europe fashion designs at Hackney Community College.
A rainy weather forecast and multiple transport issues didn’t stop the young people from making it to HCC! It’s an exciting day as the designs start to take shape, taking inspiration from the work and research completed over the past couple of weeks.
The teens were split into groups to attend three helpful sessions – sewing skills with Hannah, garment design with Joanne and draping with Lindsay.
In Hannah’s group, the team got the opportunity to work on industrial sewing machines. It’s a fundamental skill, but by no means an easy one!
‘It’s useful as the industrial machines are very different from the domestic ones I’m used to, so without this experience I wouldn’t have known how to cope with the differences.” – Ainhoa, 16
In Joanne’s class, the cohort translated the ideas in their minds to the page, designing the garments they’ll make over the course of the 10-week workshop series.
“I really enjoyed the session – I liked experimenting with both men’s and womenswear. I learnt that I can now develop my designs more than what I originally thought.” – Patrycja, 18
Lindsay carried on seamlessly from last week, continuing her draping masterclass and pushing the students to think even more out of the box. She also covered how to sketch quickly, continually help build on the group’s designs.
“I found out today that it’s not about being perfect straight away, they encourage you to explore, try something new out and then tame it down. They helped make my designs more focused – you’re designing for your muse and your story as opposed to designing just for the sake of it.” – Gloria, 19
Big up to our amazing volunteers once again for being a huge help this week – that’s you, Hayet, Prash, Delores, Philip, Melissa, Namoi, Danielle and Ana.
Next week, the 2017 Fashion Futures squad will be learning all about fabrics, design specifications and will continue the pattern cutting skills gained in week 1. We’re excited!
As ever, huge thanks to our sponsors for making this free course accessible to all.
