Fashion Workshop at City of London Academy Islington part 2
22-01-2009
Today Fashion Enter concluded the ‘Understanding the Fashion Industry' seminar at the City of London Academy Islington in a bid to prepare budding designers for the real world of the fashion industry.
Having previously been provided with an overview, delving into generic decision making and planning techniques to the creative and practical side of industry the pupils today were given an insight into the world of price points and manufacturing.
They were able to review a wide cross section of real garments and accessories and were asked to guess price points and what market would be targeted for each piece. This gave the students the opportunity to understand how the business and marketing side of the fashion industry operates.
Having also looked at the 4 P's in the last seminar:
Price
Product
Place
Promotion
They continued this with a more in depth evaluation of Promotion by being introduced to what a press release is and how it should be distributed. It is important for anyone wanting to break into the fashion industry to realise the magnitude of promotion and making people aware of your brand. Other details such as swing tickets, pricing, centre back neck labels, sizing and hangers were discussed
The students were then taught about manufacturing and the differences between CMT units, MT units and manufacturers. Again, it so important to be aware of all aspects of the industry, not just the creative side, and this why so many young designers do not succeed.
The students at the City of London Academy were an absolute delight to teach. They were a lively bunch and asked lots of intelligent questions. Overall they were a credit to the school and Fashion Enter wishes them all well for the future. Who knows we may have found the next Alexander McQueen!
