The Passion For Fashion Starts Early

EZINE 1/10 Spring Edition FASHIONSPEAK-HEART CLICK

Welcome to our very first edition of FASHIONSPEAK. This is a very exciting time to be in the business of fashion and opportunities are blossoming every where you look with new niche markets opening up and and creative and personal successes beginning to flourish for those following their heart click!

This is a term coined by Faith Popcorn a trends forecaster who predicts this as a future business trend and says it happens when you make a decision straight from your heart's desire. It's your passion, what you were really meant to do!

This is of course a wonderful definition of 'vocational training" which is an inner calling or conviction and is usually formed very early in your life and forgotten or covered over with all the sensible advice from family and school about a safe future -but you know deep inside that you always wanted to design your own clothes -in fact that's all you see when you shut your eyes-is clothes! Pip Boswell, a full time student studying at the College of Fashion Design,describes very vividly the joy uncovering her true vocation . She says :

"My Grandmother was a great sewer and naturally all her children had to learn how to stitch and one of my aunties became a costume designer in film and television.Early in her career she would hand stitch exquisite children's clothes and shoes on her wall as an art piece. As a 2 year old and a fashion icon in the making, I would march straight over to select with out fail the right choice for me! For years I continued to do this until she finally gave up and took them down !

When I was six, my grandmother gave me a sewing box for Christmas Every single weekend from then on I was handstitching all sorts of things from scraps of material. every weekend I would complete another tapestry, embroidery, cross stitch or knitted scarf. By the time I was nine I had colllected pictures for an entire year and put together my own fashion magazine-unfortunately it was mistaken for junk and thrown out !!

My Mother opened her own shop "The Odd Pear"" which we lived above, It was a culture in its own right but before its time as it was a compilation of many different designer,pieces, new and second hand clothing, jewelry and footwear as well as our own hand made works. Popular within a small but loyal customer base but my mother's foresight was blinded by her passion for her vision. She worked two full time jobs to make the business survive. In the meantime unwaware of the financial struggles I lent my mind to fantasty I lived life as one big play, costuming myself in anything I was inspired to at that moment. I was your regular actress/rock star princess and the world was my kingdom or least my oyster.

At prep school I was so excited that I got dressed up for the first day in my favourite best clothes . Enter Cyni Lauper! Obviously the taunting, teasing prep grade had not grown up with the freedom I had, nor did they have any sense of taste whatsoever given that they were all wearing the same clothes -a uniform they called it---seriously hideous (someone should really do something about that). By the time I was in Grade 6 my friend and I were designing costumes for ice, skaters, skiers, horse riders, dancers, gymnast and swimmers Of course we never actutally made them or sold them ..I'm not that much of a whizz kid but the point is the seed had been planted !

THEN came high school -suddenly I was in an adult world where I would end up having to choose boring subjects with even less inspiring teachers for an eventual struggle just for a career path that I would end up hating for a below average wage. The set program was for 2.4 children a dog and a house in the suburbs, a car and a husband. I was told that by having goals I was setting myself up for disappointment. Personal expectation led to depression. What choice did anyone have but to then give themselves up to the will of fate????

With all that stifing prospect on my big dreams I lost myself in the crowd for more than a decade Now after much soul searching I am gradually coming to terms with my identity as a designer and am studying full time at the College of Fashion Design and for the first time ever my interest has not waned but rather got stronger -and I believe in myself! I am being nutured as an individual and everyone at the College has such respect and caring for each other. I feel a tremendous amount of appreciation to the founders Ros and Andrew Verity for their catayst role in my life. I finally feel whole. A total sense of completion has entered my life that I haven't felt since I was a child.So for me doing fashion design is more than a superficial sense of achievement I truly hope everyone, especially those who are reading this are bestowed with the fulfillment that I have found in my life. !"

Pip is an inspiration to us all and we know she will be very succesful as a leader in the fashion industry.We love students with a heart desire at the College of Fashion Design whether on -site or Distance Learning, as all the educational research shows that when there is a high level of personal feeling and motivation, knowledge, concepts and skills are internalised and the learning is applied very consistently.We have four stages of learning in our program and the integrating ingredient or the 'glue' is always the 'feeling factor"

It is never to late to experience a HEART CLICK.You need to get in touch with your yearning and click into what you want and what the world will want you. Make no mistake, the world wants skilled designer/makers who can make to individual body measurements and style. The individual consumeris now the fashion I-Con and is demanding better fit, better fabrics, better quality and individual styling. They also want to know who and how their garment was made and are happy to pay for quality product made with loving hands -not child labour in a sweat shop. Let's face it shopping is no longer therapy- it is a nightmare where nothing fits, all looks the same and doesn't last one wash!

This brings us back to the business of fashion and yes it is possible to do what you have always wanted to do AND earn a good living with professional fashionskills