College of Art for alumna, Odella Y.

A recent alumna of our school, Odella Y., returned to school this week to speak to GCSE and A Level Textiles students about courses in Fashion and Textiles at Winchester College of Art, where Odella has completed her degree in Fashion Design with first class honours. Odella highlighted the importance of studying Photography, as well as Art and Design, and Textiles at A Level, for those serious about pursuing a career in fashion. Since graduating last summer, Odella has gone on to study her MA in Fashion at Kingston College of Art, after being awarded a scholarship.

Sophia Malig, teaching fellow at Winchester College of Art, also visited the school to talk about the Fashion and Textiles courses on offer, giving the girls information about the courses and the state-of-the-art facilities available at the college.

Odella brought along some pieces from her final collection to show the students, and talked about her choice of theme (computer games), how she chose and sourced her colourful fabrics, the need to communicate your ideas effectively and artistically, and the need to be creative – not just to confirm to current trends. Odella presented her ‘look book’, which included high quality photography and sketches of key pieces in her final collection. She had styled all the pieces herself as well as photographed them, and spoke enthusiastically about her course, her love of designing, and the freedom to develop her own ideas, but also told the girls about the number of hours spent creating her collection and the importance of considering ethical issues in fashion.

Both Sophia and Odella provided good insights into the way the Fashion at Winchester College of Art is structured, showed examples of final collections and gave the students a few tips on how to get the best out of their course should they decide to pursue this route when their time comes. Thank you to Sophie and Odella!