V&A x FAD Portfolio Workshop Week triumphs for another year, as our young creatives walk away with a jam-packed portfolio.
Last week we hosted five creative portfolio workshop days with a small group of 16-18 year olds at the world’s largest museum of decorative arts and design. The week was full of creativity, learning and of course, portfolio development. There was creative research, garment construction, creating shoe and hat prototypes, digital print designing and much more. We were joined by ASOS design and construction teams throughout the week to offer their expertise and industry experience.
On Monday, we set our young creatives up for the week ahead, briefing them on what to expect; introducing them to the V&A and outlining what each day would entail. To inspire our participants for each mini project ahead we visited the Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion exhibition, where we saw the master of shapes work and the work he inspired. The participants drew, scored, scribbled, snapped, absorbed, and wrote to capture as many ideas as they could. In the afternoon, the group learnt the basics of pattern cutting when they began constructing their own made to measure skirt. Drawing upon their research from the exhibition they designed a skirt to fir their own Balenciaga inspired specifications.
On Tuesday the participants were straight in with adapting their basic pattern to suit their final design. The creatives went on to choose appropriate fabrics for their design, thinking about colour, pattern and material qualities. We had ASOS volunteers and #TeamFAD graduates on hand to help the young people to construct their skirts.
Wednesday morning saw the finishing touches being made to the each of the skirts. The afternoon was an offsite trip, the group visited the huge V&A Archive at Blythe House. Here they saw vintage pieces from Balenciaga not currently on display, pieces which inspired the man himself, and work by other designers like Issey Miyake who were inspired by Balenciaga’s work. The students were able to get up close to the pieces, with one of the Archive staff moving the fabric on request to show different components of the garments, and answering questions. They were also shown how pieces of fashion history are preserved and stored in the archive.
Thursday was another full-on day of creativity. Accessories day! In the morning they were all teamed up in pairs to construct a prototype shoe, and present their idea to the group. The winner was decided by Roxy Smith, Footwear Designer for ASOS. This was followed by a mix media illustration task where they were able to cut and stick to produce an innovative shoe illustration. The afternoon involved constructing more prototypes, this time hats, inspired by shapes and silhouettes they saw earlier in the week using foam and pins.
On our final day the participants all took a trip to the Japan and China Galleries to research and sketch patterns and motifs for their final design project of the week. In the afternoon the group scanned their sketches to create digital prints using Photoshop. The final part of the day involved a presentation on ordering and constructing a strong portfolio. The creatives ended on collating all their amazing work from the week in one portfolio ready to share with future employers and universities.
We’d like to thank the V&A, ASOS, Humeera, Tihara, and Simone for making this workshop possible. For more information on FAD projects or to find out about future workshops, make sure you’re following FAD on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!