"Fashion is a collaborative industry"
Interview with Steve Wright Senior lecteur in Fashion at CIT
Steve Wright teachers and supports the aspiring young fashion designers at CIT. With us he discussed the ethics in the fashion process
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.
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.
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.
Interview by: Hannah Dehelean Picture drawn by: Alice Costanzo
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