The 15th edition of Fashion Futures, FAD’s award-winning programme of industry-led fashion workshops for teens, launched on Saturday 26th January 2019 at the V&A in South Kensington.
2019’s cohort of aspiring designers were welcomed by Project Manager Danielle, who took part in Fashion Futures herself in 2009, and is now an Assistant Buyer at River Island. A panel of Fashion Futures alumni, including Simone (F F 2008, Distribution Assistant at Endource), Delores (F F 2009, Knitwear Designer at Delores by Delores), Lolade (F F 2010, Logistics Analyst at Topshop Topman), Clara (F F 2011, Garment Technologist at the Fold ), Elaine (F F 2017, Foundation student at Central St Martins) and 2018 alumni Eliza, Emmanuella and Lucy, shared their experiences of taking part and gave the new students advice for making the most of the project.
“I took a lot from Fashion Futures. Not just the skillset, I grew in confidence – it’s something I struggled with in college – and Fashion Futures made me aware of my ability and where I had to improve.” Clara
“You will learn transitional skills. So if you want to change your mind at some point, you’ll have these basic skills. I can’t stress enough how important it is to take this opportunity and run.” Simone
Vanessa Spence, Design Director at sponsor ASOS, spoke about how the design team at the online retailer find inspiration, before FAD’s Creative Director Joanne introduced this year’s project brief. HumaNature explores the complicated relationship between humans and the natural world, exploring issues around sustainability in fashion and investigating how creatives take inspiration from nature’s patterns, forms and materials.
The FAD design philosophy is rooted in the importance of primary research, and engaging with the arts, culture and society – and we’re big believers in the power of drawing to enable us to really see, to really think, and to get our creative brains into the zone where inspiration strikes. Students took pencil and sketchbook to the Glass and Ceramics galleries to investigate objects old and new, from around the globe, recording ideas about colour, pattern, texture, shape and material which wil be their design toolkit.
“Sketch everything, and keep your curiosity fresh.” John Singer Sargent
We were so impressed with their commitment, curiosity and concentration, and we can’t want to share their progress over the coming weeks.
We are grateful to our sponsors ASOS and NatWest who make Fashion Futures 2019 possible.
