Let's Seriously Talk Design !

In the last issue of FashionSpeak we spoke of the growing demand for good design skills and as though to prove a point,we find that Katie Shannon, one of our students has won the "Ragtrader" national design competition!

"The Ragtrader"is the Australian clothing industry trade magazine and they asked all TAFE and fashion college students to "come up with a practical but stylish ensemble...for three young women representing the Australian fashion industry..The winning design was to be stylish and comfortable."

One of the judges was fashion designer Heidi Vandervord, of Cheetah swimwear who said of Katie Shannon's designs: "She has thought it (the brief through very well. She has thought about moving across the different seasons. She's very fashion forward. As well as for the team wearing it, it works for merchandising as a collection show in the stores...I think she'll do very well."

Katies' collection included a pencil skirt in lengths from micro mini to knee lenghth,classic high waisted pants, cuffed shorts in leg various lengths, silk tops, a new take on the trench coat and a fitted jacket. She used classic neutrals- black, beige, cream and white, contrasted with ochre and an textured multi coloured wool in greens for the jacket. Katie says "I'm serious about the fashion industry and want to get my name out there . I wanted to make the range functional and comfortable but not corporate-looking. It was to be elegant and stylish."

Tracy Yaffa,editor of 'Ragtrader" said: The number of quality entries was astounding for our first design award and congratulations to Kate the inaugral winner for her ideas, presentation and attention to detail in what are very creative ideas.She created a wide range of trend setting designs which will have the 'Ragtrader" team vying for their favourite design. The task incorporated designing for a mix of ages and sizes and personalities on the team and Kate managed to do this with simplicity and creativity."

How wonderful to have such good things said about your work at the end of your career but Kate is only just 20 and beginning her career !!

She is a third year student at the College of Fashion Design and while the judges do not mention her fashion illustrations (they are reproduced in the magazine) there is no doubt that the quality of her drawing and form of her figures assisted in clearly displaying the detail of the garments on a real body!

Katie's drawings look like real women (not elongated caricatures) and you can see exactly where the waist is and how the garment hangs from the hips. They are REAL DESIGNS for REAL WOMEN and reflect her technical skills in patterndrafting and garment construction as well as figure drawing.

The good news is that in a follow up 'thank you' phone call Katie has been invited to go to Sydney to assist Heidi Vandervord with her summer range!

What an opportunity especially as Cheetah Designs has just signed deals with several UK retailers last month and is planning to design and launch a new mid-to- top end swimwear range within the next year.

Fashion Design is certainly not an airy, fairy career. No longer is the industry looking for unskilled machine operators they want authentic, alternative designs and they want people who can competently communicate their ideas in detailed, proportional drawings.

Katie's win is the result of a lot of hard work and discipline She has been diligent in completing all her Certificate IV and Diploma assignments and is able to draft patterns for any body measurement and has constructed all the required practise garments ( which she didn't necessarily like style wise ) to give her the depth and range of skills.

She began her learning like all our students with the SITAM AB drawing tool and pattern drafting template which gives a deep nderstanding of the body and and its form.

Katie has the discipline and drive to take these skills out of the ordinary and has entered the Masters of Fashion Award (previously Gown of the Year )both in 2004 and 2005 with not one but two well designed and constructed gowns on each occasion and this year entered the Contemporary section with a more innovative garment to get out her comfort zone. She was also a finalist in the Student of the Year Award from the Textiles Institute of Australia in 2004 Congratulations Katie.We know this is not just a lucky one off ! She has the skills to reproduce designs from a variety of inspirations and will never run out of ideas, for example, when she came back from holiday from Vanuata she sat down and drew 22 different tops in one afternoon -most of them very structured with fine detail. WOW!

The good news is YOU too,can be a designer. You may not want to be an international designer but you can learn to get those ideas out of your head onto paper and learn to make the patterns in your size and then sew them up and wear them!! That makes you a designer/maker.

Most people say ..but I can't draw and I am not creative.

GOOD -that is our job to teach you! We have the best training tools in the world and everyone who has undertaken taken the drawing is amazed at the results. It makes you wonderfully creative when you can manually draw a human figure in proportion and dress it with skirts, tops, collars etc. There is no end to the combinations.

Remember design is "the art of combining interesting units" and the ideas in your head will never be the same as anyone else. We all use the same system of learning and yet every student has a completely different creative output!!

Suprise youself and start your design studies now wherever you live as DISTANCE IS NO BARRIER with the TELESTIA AB program.

You will receive your own drawing tool and CD to instruct you and it is up to you to consistently apply these skills and send back the results to the College for assessment.

Design is a serious study with a valid body of knowledge that can be learnt and practised. Begin NOW and see how creative you really are!! Enrol with the Fashion College that comes to YOU and email us on :fashion2@fashionskills4u.com or click below on our website to find out the skills you will learn.