10 Weeks of FAD

Hi, my name is Angela Fusco; I am 16 years old and currently am studying A-level Maths, English Literature, Textiles and Art. I have various hobbies such as reading, drawing and swimming but the one I have been addressing for the past 10 weeks, with FAD’s Fashion Futures 2 course, is my love for fashion and textiles. FAD is an organisation that runs various courses and events involving fashion which help students, such as me, develop certain skills which will benefit us in the future. The particular course I have been taking is about the full process of making a garment, including the designing, technical drawings, pattern cutting and construction.

  Various activities took place during the course such as fashion illustration, designing, printing as well as draping, where we were supplied with a large piece of fabric and the reins were passed to us to drape, cut and manipulate the fabric on a mannequin as we pleased. I found this particularly enjoyable as I was able to see how fabric can be manipulated in different ways and I came up with some different ideas which I never would have thought of when just putting pen to paper.  However, what I really enjoyed the most was the designing aspect of it all, allowing myself to be a little more daring and experimental was a bit harder that it seemed but once I got going my designs began to improve.

  I feel that I have quite a distinctive style that comes across in my designs and FAD has helped me nurture. I like alternative aspects within a garment and quite surrealist ideas. Such as those of Elsa Schiaparelli, although she is not particularly famous now, she was an amazing, inspiring and innovative designer during the 1930s. Her surrealist designs such as the lobster dress and leopard hat have are in fact still influencing fashion today. I am strongly influenced by her designs and like to add some quirkiness to mine in any way I can, be it in the way I manipulate my fabric or the way in which I execute a surface design.

  I have learnt a vast amount from my experience at FAD. I’ve learnt how to use an industrial sewing machine, which can be rather daunting at first but with practice my skills certainly developed, I’ve also been given an exclusive insight to the reality of making a garment and how much work goes into it (which is a great deal!) as well as what life is like in the wide world of work and university just by talking to the teachers and mentors. I feel that I have also grown as a person, firstly I am more aware of the different possibilities within fashion but also I have noticed that when going into different shops, I am more appreciative of the work and extensive effort that has gone into just one garment.

  The FAD workshops certainly have inspired me and got me thinking about future plans within fashion. In particular, my industry trip to George ASDA has widened my perspective to the world of fashion buying, designing, market research and even journalism. There are so many different umbrellas below the grand title of ‘Fashion’ and I have been influenced to do some more research and explore a little deeper into even more possibilities. By listening to some members of staff at the George office I was intrigued by the experiences they were sharing, the places they’d been to and were going to go to. Although their jobs appeared glamorous, it was evident that a lot of hard work and effort followed, but it all seems worth it!