Blog Maya Balcerzak

“I want to say a big thank-you to Jenny Holloway for letting me join the pre-apprenticeship course at the ASOS Stitching Academy, even though I’m over the age requirement. I’m currently 33-years old and I have been in the fashion industry for 6 years. I was a fashion buyer back home in Poland for LPP, which is a leading retailer in Central and Eastern Europe, with five established brands (comparable to Arcadia Group in the UK).

3-years ago I have decided to move to London to get an international experience in fashion but I am struggling to get a job in fashion buying over here. The market is very competitive and there are a lot of great, young, talented people wanting to become buyers. I didn’t have any UK experience so I took on a 5-month voluntary job at ‘London Ethnic’ – an online boutique. It still didn’t seem enough to get a job. I had the feeling I needed to do more and thought it would be useful to get practical skills, knowledge of the garment production side and learn how to sew and finish the garment.

Luckily Joe my career advisor at the Job Centre told me about the ongoing course at the ASOS Stitching Academy.  The course has provided me with a great foundation knowledge of stitching skills, garment construction and even bigger enthusiasm for the fashion Industry. Big thanks goes to our tutor Leyla Mehmet. She inspired me with her amazing experience and knowledge in not only stitching but also designing and pattern cutting. She showed us everything to make us confident in stitching and garment finishing. She pushed us to make the most of it.

Before the course I didn’t have a clue about industrial machines and techniques in stitching. We only had 6 weeks to take on our new skills and prepare for the next step in our fashion careers. Lelya showed us much more than we were expected to do, thanks to her we learnt about the entire garment production process, which will enable us to choose the right career path in fashion industry.

After graduating I feel I have more opportunity to find a job in fashion and it doesn’t have to be only buying now. There are so many amazing job offers for me now, where I can use all the previous buying skills and now my new practical skills in stitching. In the future I want to re-style old clothes, and make up-cycled garments from recycled textiles. That is why I have applied for a job with Alastair at Intatex. I will also go for Mark Anthony and maybe will try to apply for a fashion buyer role at ASOS:)

Once again thank you Leyla and Jenny for an amazing experience and skills in hand!!!”

Maya