Programme of Study

Kelly Marie Hughes

C6849

Programme of Study

I decided to pursue a HND (Higher National Diploma) in Fashion and Footwear to advance my education after taking a level 2 course the previous year. I have a strong passion for fashion and discovered my creative side via school. I wish to deepen my intellectual learning and development considering that I want to work in the fashion industry.

I chose Leicester College because I like it and the professors are dedicated to assisting students in achieving their goals.

My work at Level 2 in Fashion and Footwear earned me primarily distinctions. I have strong leadership qualities and a positive outlook on success. I have a great deal of passion and I am always willing to learn and create. I am a good communicator. I work both as a team player and a self-reliant worker. I have superior customer care. dependable and controllable.

With my work, I aim to incorporate more design and better time management. Continue to grow and learn while producing high-caliber work. Both fashion and footwear pique my interest. I adore design and inventing fresh, exciting concepts.

I have a keen eye for a deal; thus, I would love to become a buyer. I am aware that and I deal customer values uniqueness. They collaborate closely with fashion designers and go to trade shows, wholesale showrooms, and fashion shows to watch trends.

I must keep learning about the fashion industry, the ever shifting trends and needs, and what the profession includes. I will keep an open mind and keep searching. As my ideas and what I want to achieve can vary over time, I should look at the fashion business rather than just one employment role. With a lot of expertise, I would adore earning a degree in fashion. Additionally, I want to be fully aware of the job opportunities open to me after I graduate. I am pulled to purchasing fashion, and I would love to keep learning about the options out there. Become a customer of a luxury brand. One day, I hope to launch a successful global business or brand and become a well-known fashion designer. As a fashion student, I wish to continue to be passionate about learning and developing. I want to have a plethora of information and new abilities to advance my career. portfolio and knowledge of fashion.

My current learning obstacles are: distractions, managing my time well and devoting more time to my career. I would like to improve and grow in all areas.

Fashion Buyer

Fashion Designer

Fashion Stylist

Fashion Buying

Fashion Buying

Fashion Buying History

"Fashion has changed dramatically in a relatively short period. This is largely due to the industrialization and recent advances. Fashion buying and merchandising began with a much lower profile. This was due to the place fashion occupied in daily life and society. Fashion did not begin as an industry. It simply existed.

Fashion existed exclusively as the made-to-order work of single craftsmen.

The Industrial Revolution opened the door to mass-produced garments (and artist and those with taste wept). The distribution and retails to support this soon followed, and the co9bblers and peddlers could no longer compete.

Retailers continued to expand from there along with production. The quantity of product purchased also increased. This raised the stakes.

More product meant a greater investment, and stakeholders needed better professionals to reduce risk. Groups of specialist buyers and merchandisers were formed, and there was heavy investment in defining and understanding their specialist skills and the finer areas of product they manage."

Hebrero. A (2015).

Above I have done some research into the history of fashion buying and how the job role was created and a market created for it.

Fashion Buying Today

Fashion buying today is one of the most important retail functions. Because it directly affects sales, margins and overall profitability and success of the retailer.

The wat trends are set in fashiom has totally changed over the years.

It used to be that trends are set through big fashion shows and events in Paris, and whatever was In would be the trend for the coming year and everyone would just follow.

Social media, However completely changed this dynamic.

Nowadays, trends are extracted from what people decide is popular. This is driven more by ordinary people using social media to share their style and taste, and these then go viral and get picked up by others and become trends on their own.

That’s why, today’s fashion buyers are not only expected to attend trade shows and keep up with fashion magazines to know what’s on style, they also need to follow trends on social med, and even subscribe to trend forecasting services.

Laura Larbalestier - Fashion Buyer to Group Fashion Director

Laura Larbalestier began her career at Selfridges in 2003, where she remained for eight years. She was responsible for developing the women’s designer ready-towear business.

In 2011, Laura joined Browns Fashion as Buying Director overseeing women’s readyto-wear, fine jewellery, shoes and bags.

Laura made the move to leading luxury retailer, Boutique 1, as Buying Director in June 2017. Here, she will lead the buying strategy for the store network, including the recently opened European flagship in London and the newly relaunched Boutique1.com. She also sits on the BFC NewGen committee.

She has now joined Harvey Nichols as Group Fashion Director in charge of Men’s, Women’s and Accessories.

https://www.woolmarkprize.com/judges/laura-larbalestier/

Fashion Buyer - Roles and Responsibilities/Job search

The Role of a Buyer you must arrange and choose a variety of goods to be offered in specific retail locations as a buyer. Customer demand, store policies, budgetary budgets, and market trends are important considerations for buyers. In order to stay competitive, a good buyer must constantly source new product s and evaluate those already on the market. Retail buyers typically have tight ties with merchandisers in order to do this. Retail buyers must stay current on market trends in order to be able to respond to changes in demand. To be a buyer, you must ensure that consumer needs are being addressed in order to offer a commercially viable range and maximum earnings. working alongside design teams,

Typical Duties would include:

Selecting Products

Negotiating Prices

Ensuring Goods arrive on time

Presenting new ideas to senior management teams

Writing Reports

Analysing Consumer buying patterns and predicting future trends

Reacting to changes in demand

Training and mentoring Junior Staff

Meeting Suppliers and negotiating terms of contract

Fashion Buyer - Personal and Professional Skills

Designer

Fashion

Fashion Designer

Each and every piece of clothing and jewellery sold globally each year is made by fashion designers. Fashion designers conduct trend research, design all apparel and accessories, cut patterns, select colours and materials for apparel and makeup, and oversee the final execution of their creations. For a while, they established the fashion, capturing the interest of the world's fashionistas.

The entire process of making clothing, from concept to finished item, is controlled and initiated by fashion designers. Basically, the start of this programme is when designers generate an idea and create a drawing from it. Then, based on their results, they create a design, taking into account factors like the fabric, colour, and size of the garment.

There are many different types of fashion designers, from well-known designers of high-end clothing to artists who develop ready to wear clothing. Fashion Designers have a very unique position in the world. Their talent and vision not only influence how people appear, but they have also significantly impacted the social and cultural milieu.

Vivienne Westwood –Fashion Designer

Vivienne Westwood was a British Fashion Designer known for her Provocative clothing. She influenced the 1970's Punk Music Movement into Fashion.

She was a self taught Designer, but soon established her identity as a leading independent designer.

A turning point was reached with Westwood's "mini-crini" design, a thigh-grazing crinoline that debuted in her spring/summer 1985 collection and was made of both cotton and tweed. For the next two decades, she designed collections that drew inspiration from historical British dress, including the 19th-century bustle, which Westwood incorporated under elaborate knitwear dresses and tartan miniskirts, as well as classical sources, particularly the paintings of Jean-Honoré Fragonard, François Boucher, and Thomas Gainsborough.

Independently, Westwood established her own namesake mini-empire of clothing, running a number of boutiques, creating two menswear and three womenswear collections each year, along with bridal wear, shoes, hosiery, eyeglasses, scarves, ties, knitwear, cosmetics, and perfumes. A retrospective of her works debuted at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London on April 1, 2004. The largest exhibition the museum had ever devoted to a British designer was "Vivienne Westwood: 34 Years in Fashion." She was awarded the OBE (Officer of the British Empire) in 1992 and the DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) in 2006.

Fashion Designer – Roles and Responsibilities

As a Fashion Designer researching current fashion trends, predicting whatwill be popular with consumers, and drawing inspiration from your surroundings will all be part of your job.

You will select the fabrics, colours, and patterns, then create prototype designsand tweak them until you are satisfied with the finished product.

You might be given a brief with details aboutthe colour, fabric, and spending limit, or you might work from your own brief. While working for a small business as the single designer or by yourself, you will be in charge of all the designs, as opposed to working as part of a team of designersat a large corporation led by a creative director. Typically,you will focuson a single design discipline, like sportswear, childrenswear, or footwear.

A few Fashion Designer Responsibilitiesinclude:

Create or visualise ideas

Create Moodboards to show clients

Keep up to date with Fashion Trends aswell asgeneral trends, Colour, Fabric and Shape

Work with others in the team like Buyers, and forecasters to develop and meet a brief. Visit trade shows and manufactueres tosource, select and buy fabricsand trimsand embellishments

Oversee Production

Negotiate with Clientsand Manufacturers

Showcase your Designs atTrade and Fashion Events

Fashion Designer -

Personal and Professional Skills

For anyone who wants to flourish in the fashion sector, fashion designer abilities are a requirement. If you have the necessary skill set, you can manage a team of employees or departments, divide a large project into smaller, more manageable tasks, work with other talented people, and even hire trainees. A fashion designer typically learns both technical and creative skills to be successful in the profession.

A Fashion Designer would embody skills suvh as:

Interpersonal Skills

Eagerness to Succeed

Attention to Detail;

Visualisation and Sketching skills

Strong Communication Skills

Be part of a Team also willing to work alone

Business Skills

Negogiation Skills

Highly Organised

Proactive

Time Management

CAD Design

Leadership Qualities

Flexibility and Adaptability

Fashion Stylist

Fashion Stylist

The first stylists were fashion magazine editors. In addition to selecting models, managing the creative direction, and organising the photo session, they would also style the models.

The 1970s saw a huge rise in the use of image consultancy, which was helped by John T. Molloy's 1975 book Dress for Success. The author of this book discussed how a person's appearanceaffects their success in both their personal and professional lives. This book was dubbed "America's first wardrobeengineer" by TIME Magazine. Dress for Success, which was primarily written for males, quickly rose to popularity.

In order to choose and control the clothing on a model, the term "fashion editing" first originated in the 1980s. The first independent stylists emerged, and many of them eventually found employment with publications. A British creative genius and the driving forcebehind the Buffalo movement, Ray Petri is also regarded as one of the original stylists. He was requesting a variety of mixedracemodels and starting discussions on metrosexuality. The goal of Ray Petri was to democratise fashion, and he was successful.

Mimi Cuttrell

Mimi Cuttrell is a well-known fashion stylist who specialises in street and red carpet styles. Gigi Hadid, Bella Hadid, Ariana Grande, Lily Rose Depp, Iris Law, and Normani are a few of her clients. Mimi divides her time between Los Angeles and New York. Her fashion-forward ensembles are all about the details, whether they are standout design components, surprising layers, or attention-grabbing accessories. In addition, Cuttrell has styled articles for publications like Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Elle. She graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology with a degree in fashion merchandising.

Various tasks will be required of you asa fashion stylist throughoutthe course of your employment. There isa list of the main duties below.

working with fashion designers, tailors, models, photographers, hair and makeup artists, stores, journalists, publicists, and public figures.

For persons involved in journalism, advertising, concerts, music videos, films, and television shows, fashion stylists select outfits and accessories.

establishing a public persona for your celebrity clients

There have been studiesdone on fabrics, clothes manufacturing, and fashion accessories. following numerousfashion industry designers and labels keeping up with the latest events and fashion trends by visiting brand showrooms, shows, and numerous eventsin the area,staying currenton the newest fashions and trends. It's crucialto be able to predict fashiontrends and spot emerging ones. Creating connections withprofessionals using well-known people to developa unique aesthetic taste.Personal stylist work and personal purchasing are includedin this. helping buyers of clothing at large retailers

Fashion Stylist –

Personal and Professional Skills

You must have an eye for visual composition and proportion as well as commercial acumen, which includes a thorough understanding of designers, brands, and trends, in order to succeed as a fashion stylist. A capacity for meeting deadlines. Exemplary attention to detail, a can-do attitude, and a cheerful, aggressive, and outspoken manner

Strong communication skills, the ability to work independently and cooperatively in a team, proficiency with numbers, organisation, time-management, and project-management skills, the capacity to multitask, the capacity to provide exceptional customer service, general knowledge of photography and lighting, and IT literacy, including the ability to use InDesign, Photoshop, Capture One, and Microsoft. Flair and Individuality.

Job Applications -

TraineeBuyer

I applied for a trainee buyer role at Joules.

Joules is a British clothing company that sells clothing and homeware inspired by British Country Lifestyles. I think the company would benefit from my passion for fashion, my distinctive vision, and my people-communication abilities. I believe that as a junior buyer at Joules, I would be expected to put in a lot of effort and time and to fulfil deadlines.

Introducing myself to Joules face to face at their new headquarters in Market Harborough, Leicestershire.

I stopped by Joules and introduced myself as a fashion student looking for employment in the industry. I liked this strategy since it forced me to step outside of my comfort zone and shown my desire to enter the room.

I was given certaine-mail addresses to approach because some of the decision-makers were away.

Digital Platforms

To Explore and become Visible in the Digital World

Digital Platforms

What can I do in a year to make myself more visible in the Digital Platform World...

I can create a Brand-New Professional Social Media presence.

Start to follow people, companies, influencers that will help inspire me and to move in the right direction of where I want to go.

Research into how to make myself Visiblein the Digital World.

Make new Connections.Like, Follow,make Contact and make myself more Visible.

Update my Experience – CV, Portfolio, Some of my Work.

Approach Companiesnow to get my feet in the door and introduce myself and where I want to go how I would fit into the company.

Gain some more work experience, Part time, Voluntary, Internship.

Approach these companies through Digital Platform rather than traditional methods.

Personal Skills Audit

My Current Skills are:

MyHND(HigherNationalDiploma) Year1inFashion andFootwear andLevel2 inFashion andFootwear credentials.

I amtalentedinfashion manufacturing and design.

I havedemonstratedstrong leadership skills, Superior communicationabilities

I amArtistic

I amEnthusiastic

Acapacityforpressured work

Abletooperateindependently oras ateam

Caringaboutothers

Positive

Consistent

Transferable Skills:

Myfront-of-house abilitiesaretransportable.

GivingtoOthers

BeingConfident

Compassionate

Availabilitytoothers

Leadership qualities

commitmentethnic

Nomatterwhat, showingup

Willingness

Apositive perspective

attentiontodetail

Areas to develop?

Continue withthewillingness tolearndespite self-doubt. Managingtime

Stopbeing distractedbyprocrastination

I should givemycareermoretime.

Toincreasemyvisibility, I willkeepapproaching businesses. Havefaithinmyabilitytoestablishaninternet presence

I willcontinue showing up and giveitmybest.

Long-term career goal?

Toacquireadegreeinfashion and establish myselfin theindustry. todelightin thevoyage. todevelopfartherand keepgrowing. toattainBuyerstatus, exploretheworld, and savour eachminute. I mightevenhavemyownfashionempiresomeday.

SMART Target

Becommittedtomyacademicperformance.

BeProudofMySuccesses.

BySeptember2023,visibilityonlineplatformswillbeavailable. ByJanuary2024,jobofferswillbeavailable.

Keepaweeklyjournal.

Keepajournal.

FollowmyDevelopment.

Havefaithinmyabilities andmyself.

Avoidworkingwhilelearning

Spendless.

Keepgoing.

Evaluation

In my first year of the HND (Higher National Diploma) Fashion and Footwear programme at Leicester College, I have learned a great deal about various businesses and the qualifications required to accomplish my long-term goals. I now know how to conduct research and properly cite all sources, including books, the Internet, and online publications. I developed my artistic skills this year, as evidenced by the many media and methods I used. Additionally, I've discovered that I enjoy researching many facets of fashion, especially the contextual studies I am currently writing. Additionally, I now have a greater grasp of who I am, whether it be by developing my ability to relax and get enough sleep to function at my peak.

I am giving my work more time and have a much better knowledge of why I put things off. I've also come to realise that everything takes time and that I need to give my studies a lot more attention. I'm pleased with the improvement already achieved this year overall. I have made some stunning clothes and shoes, and I want to keep pushing myself to discover more and flourish in my studies in order to accomplish my goals and determine what sector of fashion I want to specialise in. I have also realised that I don't give myself enough credit for my accomplishments. However I would lketo be more focused next year on my academia.

Referencing

(Miguel Hebrero / Fashion Buying and Merchandising: From Mass-market to luxury retail / The Root of the Fashion Industry 5 Nov 2015. )

https://www.retaildogma.com/fashion-buying/

Laura Larbalestier

https://www.woolmarkprize.com/judges/laura-larbalestier/

Fashion Buyer/Roles and Responsibiliets

https://www.fashioncapital.co.uk/profiles/fashion-buyer-job-profile/

Fashion Design

https://www.nfi.edu/fashiondesigner/#:~:text=Fashion%20designers%20create%20all%20of,final%20execution%20of%2 0their%20designs.

Vivienne Westwood

https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Most-Excellent-Order-of-the-British-Empire

Fashion Stylist

https://fashinza.com/fashion-designs/design-trends/what-is-fashion-styling-career-growthtrajectory-for-fashion-stylists/

Mimi Cuttrell

http://mimicuttrell.com/about

Fashion Stylist

https://sparkpick.com/amazing-history-of-fashion-and-personal-styling-you-need-toknow/#:~:text=First%20stylists%20were%20editors%20who,Molloy