"students can go to the very beginning to the very end in their own way"
Process Of Fashion Course At CIT
Interveiw with Steve Wright, Senior lecteur in Fashion at CIT
Hannah: What inspired you to get a job teaching at CIT?
Steve: I received a fashion degree. I like the idea of showing people how to do things, pushing backside of the industry, suppose kind of teaching the industry with expertise. So education it is.
Hannah: So what’s involved in taking your classes?
Steve: Depends on the class I teach a range of subjects. Design, event management and theory subjects. I think for any class, the things I look for in students is a thirst for knowledge and if they are really interested and they want to explore things, then that’s all they need.
Hannah: How close do fashion and beauty work together?
Steve: Not very close at all. They are quite different courses. The beauty course is about the technical expertise of beauty and fashion the “Clothing Production” course is kind of the beauty equivalent in the fashion course that is, the technical expertise of making fashion, they’re both quite long courses, it’s very hard to become an expert in these fields, it’s very difficult. But the fashion degree that we have here is a “conceptual” degree so it is about designs, ideas and concepts as opposed to sewing, although you do learn how to sew.
Hannah: What advice do you have for future students wanting to do a fashion degree?
Steve: I suppose for anyone, wishing to become a fashion student, essentially I would say, they should be doing research on the industry, the part of the industry that interests you the most and definitely try and get some depth there. So reading fashion magazines is important it’s not the be all and end all becoming a fashion student, look at some of the ideas surrounding that industry, research recent government studies, looking at innovation within the industry in Australia. Essentially what you are looking at, if you’re in year 11 or 12 now, you’re going to be working in the industry in five or six years, so the industry today is going to be quite different to the industry that you’re going into.
Hannah: What kind of opportunities does CIT offer to students?
Steve: Students get to participate in a range of events every year. At the moment we’re looking at a few sustainable fashion parades. At the end of every year we have the graduation parade which this year is called “Archetype10” it is the biggest parade in Canberra. We give our students time to attend fashion week, you actually do at least a week of work placement in the industry anywhere in Australia. Actually we had a student recently go to Bali, for her work placement. We have industry members that work here as part of our teaching team. So we have a strong relationship with the local industry. We have exhibitions all the time we’ve got one at the moment actually. What we try and do is simulate the work place. So in a workplace you meet people from diverse areas from the industry, so you can get a lot of connections, a lot of collaborative industries, it’s a business built on relationships.
Hannah: Explain how the design course works?
Steve: There are 4 core subject is the degree. In Fashion Studio students learn about design, how to design, how to identify the visually communicative elements of a design and use these to create a reaction in a viewer, this is also the subject where students receive their main briefs for the semester. Social and Cultural studies is the theoretical side of the degree for example: in first year students cover fashion history and the ethics of fashion. In Design technology is where you do all your sewing, patternmaking and learn how use all the machinery. In Image Making you learn to draw, how to use that drawing as a tool for design as well as how to use image manipulating software. Students choose an elective which could be something like surface printing, textile investigation, model preparation or costume corsetry and a range of other things. So these subjects are all designed to work together. For example you get a brief and given a studio, you use Social and Cultural Studies to help you with your research to inform your brief. Design Technology can give you the skills to make the brief and Image Making can show you how to further your designs and how to present your brief. So, all our subjects are integrated. We have a competency based assessment process which means that you must meet a specific set of skills to get through the course. So basically in maths you get. 52% what mark does that equal?
Hannah: Depends, C or a D depending on the bell curve ( laughs)
Steve: The thing with competency based assessment you have to get 100% to pass. That sounds kind of stressful, that’s because it’s based on the industry for example, in the fashion industry you’ve made the best fashion in the world, it’s really, really exciting. So Hannah and Alice, you’ve done really well, here’s your models show up on Friday at 10:00 and you show up at 11. Void! So everything has to be done. Complete 100% otherwise you miss out. The degree is broken up into semesters which are called stages 3 years 6 semesters 6 stages. In Stage 1 you do your core skills. You don’t need to know how to sew or draw to get into the course, we’ll teach you those things, the first principles. So in the first semester we teach you about design how to manipulate the elements and principles of design and how to unlock the keys about fashion, so to understand that fashion is more about then just dresses and frocks and that fashion can be a whole range of things fashion is an exciting tool for communication, so that’s what stage 1 is about.
Steve: When you start Stage 2 the costumes and garments become more sophisticated and in Image making 2 , you begin to look at the body figure and you start to draw, you then learn more about the ethics of fashion in Social and Cultural Studies 2. In Design Technology 2 you begin to look at pattern making, there is a series of briefs in stage 2, one is of architecture the relationships with architecture and fashion, fashion cycle, trend cycle. Which the two girls you spoke to today (Hannah and Morgan) are from. So the stuff you are working with is still experimental, still using fashion as a tool for communication in opposed to a tool for clothing.
Steve: Once you’ve done your first year you are very excited, you get into your first commercial brief, which is stage 3. So this is about designing for a particular consumer, understanding the strengths of that certain person, so you make up the designer, so you understand that when you are 20 your consumer would still be 18. You need to understand somebody that isn’t you to get results.
Steve: Stage 4, they undertake a group project, which asks them to use a whole range of different skills collaboratively, because fashion is a collaborative industry. They need to make an exciting collection based on contemporary art, so you start to break up your collection into commercial pieces that are used to excite you as a designer, promote your work, these sort of things are the stuff you see on the news, like “men in glass”.
Steve: Once your done with the 2nd year, you’ve graduated and can leave with an Advanced Diploma.
For those wanting to continue into their third year they are asked to undertake their own brief. So they will use their skills they have learnt throughout these four stages, for example, I really liked the idea of architecture, I may do something with that. The thing with our course is that you’re not restricted in any way in what direction you can go to. For example of you want to do an underwear line you can!Often other fashion courses say “this semester we are making skirts, next we are making pants” we don’t have anything like that, so students can go to the very beginning to the very end in their own ways, we prepare the course for them. So they are asked to write their own brief. They have business studies so they write a business plan, business management, to raise funds and plan for the coming event.
Steve: Stage 6, final semester you start to focus on one aspect of the industry, they use their theoretical practical, conceptual, all of these skills they need to use marketing, which is all done together. They create their own brief maybe continuing on what they did in stage 5 but take it further. Then finish and make millions of dollars ☺
Hannah: So what’s involved in taking your classes?
Steve: Depends on the class I teach a range of subjects. Design, event management and theory subjects. I think for any class, the things I look for in students is a thirst for knowledge and if they are really interested and they want to explore things, then that’s all they need.
Hannah: How close do fashion and beauty work together?
Steve: Not very close at all. They are quite different courses. The beauty course is about the technical expertise of beauty and fashion the “Clothing Production” course is kind of the beauty equivalent in the fashion course that is, the technical expertise of making fashion, they’re both quite long courses, it’s very hard to become an expert in these fields, it’s very difficult. But the fashion degree that we have here is a “conceptual” degree so it is about designs, ideas and concepts as opposed to sewing, although you do learn how to sew.
Hannah: What advice do you have for future students wanting to do a fashion degree?
Steve: I suppose for anyone, wishing to become a fashion student, essentially I would say, they should be doing research on the industry, the part of the industry that interests you the most and definitely try and get some depth there. So reading fashion magazines is important it’s not the be all and end all becoming a fashion student, look at some of the ideas surrounding that industry, research recent government studies, looking at innovation within the industry in Australia. Essentially what you are looking at, if you’re in year 11 or 12 now, you’re going to be working in the industry in five or six years, so the industry today is going to be quite different to the industry that you’re going into.
Hannah: What kind of opportunities does CIT offer to students?
Steve: Students get to participate in a range of events every year. At the moment we’re looking at a few sustainable fashion parades. At the end of every year we have the graduation parade which this year is called “Archetype10” it is the biggest parade in Canberra. We give our students time to attend fashion week, you actually do at least a week of work placement in the industry anywhere in Australia. Actually we had a student recently go to Bali, for her work placement. We have industry members that work here as part of our teaching team. So we have a strong relationship with the local industry. We have exhibitions all the time we’ve got one at the moment actually. What we try and do is simulate the work place. So in a workplace you meet people from diverse areas from the industry, so you can get a lot of connections, a lot of collaborative industries, it’s a business built on relationships.
Hannah: Explain how the design course works?
Steve: There are 4 core subject is the degree. In Fashion Studio students learn about design, how to design, how to identify the visually communicative elements of a design and use these to create a reaction in a viewer, this is also the subject where students receive their main briefs for the semester. Social and Cultural studies is the theoretical side of the degree for example: in first year students cover fashion history and the ethics of fashion. In Design technology is where you do all your sewing, patternmaking and learn how use all the machinery. In Image Making you learn to draw, how to use that drawing as a tool for design as well as how to use image manipulating software. Students choose an elective which could be something like surface printing, textile investigation, model preparation or costume corsetry and a range of other things. So these subjects are all designed to work together. For example you get a brief and given a studio, you use Social and Cultural Studies to help you with your research to inform your brief. Design Technology can give you the skills to make the brief and Image Making can show you how to further your designs and how to present your brief. So, all our subjects are integrated. We have a competency based assessment process which means that you must meet a specific set of skills to get through the course. So basically in maths you get. 52% what mark does that equal?
Hannah: Depends, C or a D depending on the bell curve ( laughs)
Steve: The thing with competency based assessment you have to get 100% to pass. That sounds kind of stressful, that’s because it’s based on the industry for example, in the fashion industry you’ve made the best fashion in the world, it’s really, really exciting. So Hannah and Alice, you’ve done really well, here’s your models show up on Friday at 10:00 and you show up at 11. Void! So everything has to be done. Complete 100% otherwise you miss out. The degree is broken up into semesters which are called stages 3 years 6 semesters 6 stages. In Stage 1 you do your core skills. You don’t need to know how to sew or draw to get into the course, we’ll teach you those things, the first principles. So in the first semester we teach you about design how to manipulate the elements and principles of design and how to unlock the keys about fashion, so to understand that fashion is more about then just dresses and frocks and that fashion can be a whole range of things fashion is an exciting tool for communication, so that’s what stage 1 is about.
Steve: When you start Stage 2 the costumes and garments become more sophisticated and in Image making 2 , you begin to look at the body figure and you start to draw, you then learn more about the ethics of fashion in Social and Cultural Studies 2. In Design Technology 2 you begin to look at pattern making, there is a series of briefs in stage 2, one is of architecture the relationships with architecture and fashion, fashion cycle, trend cycle. Which the two girls you spoke to today (Hannah and Morgan) are from. So the stuff you are working with is still experimental, still using fashion as a tool for communication in opposed to a tool for clothing.
Steve: Once you’ve done your first year you are very excited, you get into your first commercial brief, which is stage 3. So this is about designing for a particular consumer, understanding the strengths of that certain person, so you make up the designer, so you understand that when you are 20 your consumer would still be 18. You need to understand somebody that isn’t you to get results.
Steve: Stage 4, they undertake a group project, which asks them to use a whole range of different skills collaboratively, because fashion is a collaborative industry. They need to make an exciting collection based on contemporary art, so you start to break up your collection into commercial pieces that are used to excite you as a designer, promote your work, these sort of things are the stuff you see on the news, like “men in glass”.
Steve: Once your done with the 2nd year, you’ve graduated and can leave with an Advanced Diploma.
For those wanting to continue into their third year they are asked to undertake their own brief. So they will use their skills they have learnt throughout these four stages, for example, I really liked the idea of architecture, I may do something with that. The thing with our course is that you’re not restricted in any way in what direction you can go to. For example of you want to do an underwear line you can!Often other fashion courses say “this semester we are making skirts, next we are making pants” we don’t have anything like that, so students can go to the very beginning to the very end in their own ways, we prepare the course for them. So they are asked to write their own brief. They have business studies so they write a business plan, business management, to raise funds and plan for the coming event.
Steve: Stage 6, final semester you start to focus on one aspect of the industry, they use their theoretical practical, conceptual, all of these skills they need to use marketing, which is all done together. They create their own brief maybe continuing on what they did in stage 5 but take it further. Then finish and make millions of dollars ☺
Interview by Hannah Dehelean, Picture drawn by Alice Costanzo
