Apprenticeship Open Day

Over 80 attendees came to the two sessions, 10:00 -12:00 hrs and 14:00 – 16.00 creating an excellent networking environment for the Government agencies of Skillset and NAS. The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London, employers such as New Look and Lipsy and of course the 15 prospective apprentices that all arrived for the afternoon session

The event commenced with a passionate and comprehensive overview of the current manufacturing climate in the UK by Daliah Simble, the new Sourcing Director for Liberty

Daliah commented “We should be proud of our manufacturing base here in the UK and in particular London There is major demand for quality garments in small quantities – Fast Track Fashion is here and its here to stay. Its important that we all support the manufacturers and the skills that are currently in the industry to make sure that in ten years time we do not lose our production expertise. This is why I support Fashion Enter and the apprenticeship programme which centres on the technical side of fashion. The time for action to support manufacturing is now”

There were other addresses made by:

Joel Wynne – Curriculum Manager for Creative Studies at the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London

Andy Wilkes – Education Manager Fashion Enter

Jennifer Holloway – Director Fashion Enter

Desiree Koster – Manager Fashion Studio Fashion Enter

Anna Byers – NAS

The visitors were given a guided tour around the new Fashion Studio, a unique business and education initiative with the University East London, a review of the educational suite complete with software packages of Vetigraph (cadcam in pattern making), Photoshop and InDesign

Attendees were also introduced to the skilled machinists and pattern cutters at the Fashion Studio and these introductions are at the very crux of why the apprenticeships are so important today. The skilll base of the workers is exceptionally high and these are the skills that need to be passed on to the future generations

Director Jenny Holloway added “ We have an amazing team here at the Fashion Studio, Andy Wilkes our Education Manager was based in Los Angeles for ten years creating garments for the stars! This depth of experience can not be read out of text books or learnt in a formal learning environment. The skills have to be passed on by actually making patterns, toiles and samples. Similarly Desiree Koster the Manager here is ex Biba and Bruce Oldfield. She is a master crafts person ready to train the next generation of master craftsmen! “

Sincere thanks to all that attended the day and also to the guest speakers for their informative talks and support.

The new Apprenticeship Programme intake commences again in January 2012 For all enquires reading apprenticeships please contact Andy Wilkes directly at andy@fasioncapital.co.uk

 Click here for further generic information regarding the apprenticeship programme