Danielle De Souza – Fashion Enter Apprentice

I am a hard working, enthusiastic and creative individual with work experience. I am passionate about working in the fashion industry as its highly creative and exciting environment has always appealed to me. I am looking to pursue an apprenticeship position where I can grow and develop my skills and experience.

I first realised I was passionate about fashion when I began to enjoy experimenting with it, for example choosing the colours, styles, materials and accessories as this gave me an insight of what works and what doesn’t and has helped me to develop and become confident within my own sense of style. In my spare time I enjoy experimenting with hair and make up, shopping, horse riding, music and attending various fashion events such as ‘The Clothes Show Live’ and ‘Britain’s Next Top Model’ as they have given me the opportunity to witness catwalk shows, talk to designers and stylists behind the scenes and keep up to date with current and upcoming trends.

Since looking at various fashion magazines, books and designs I have become heavily influenced by fashion designers. One of my favourite designers is Alexander McQueen as even though his early collections created shock and controversy he showed that you need to be different and sometimes break boundaries in order to take fashion to another level and be successful, and even though it’s a long way to go you can be credited in the end as he has been. Furthermore, he studied art at school and then went on to serve an apprenticeship where he learnt the skills of garment cutting which is a direction I would love to go in.

I have gained a GCSE in textiles and enjoyed studying this subject as it enabled me to look at fabrics and embellishments and understand colours and different techniques. I also appreciated the fact that I could put my own thoughts and ideas into action and create my own garments which consisted of a skirt and a matching top as this showed me my capabilities. I studied Art & Design as an A level which enabled me to experiment with the design/drawing side of fashion.

At the moment I am attracted to the idea of doing a Fashion Apprenticeship because there are still certain aspects of the industry that I want to find out more about and experience for myself. Also, as well as studying and learning how to make clothes I will also get the opportunity to learn in a fashion production environment which I think is very important as I feel it will give me the right amount of experience and confidence to pursue my career in the fashion industry.