Fashion students from Stratford-upon-Avon College were recently treated to a talk by a fashion designer working in the industry to help widen their skill sets and consider their impact on the environment.
Students were able to talk to Maggie Mattioni, a designer and design consultant who has worked for a range of top brands in the fashion Industry. From Umbro, to Bench, to Debenhams, to Matalan, Maggie has worked with a multitude of big names, as well as working for huge fashion events like London Fashion Week.
In their session Maggie tasked the students with a project to design a piece of menswear for brands Notam and Neem and to support their idea with a social media marketing campaign.
One of the key aspects of the talk was looking at sustainability within fashion. The UK has the fourth largest amount of textile waste – with 30% ending up in landfill. One current way to combat this is for designers to use 3D design. This means when a garment is designed, manufacturers can see how a piece of clothing will hang/fit without needing to make numerous samples. Maggie provided examples of businesses utilising this like Fabbricant and Attacac.
The students found the talk incredibly useful. Phoebe Samways commented: “Learning about 3D samples was extremely beneficial as Maggie talked about how some companies will only hire people with this skill – so now I know it is something I should learn to help me get a job later on.”
Sam Hopgood noted how learning about the wastage was a real eye-opener for him: “It really did open my eyes to the wastage situation. I always knew it was there but didn’t realise to what extent, so it is definitely something I will consider now.”
