Working with the third years and RESULTS !!

The last few days working with the third years put into perspective again how pressured and stressful third year is actually going to be. On Wednesday and Thursday I met Grace at Vernon street and she showed me some of her work- I really liked her style of illustration and it seemed as though she was very hand rendered based like me. I went into town a couple of times to print some photographs for her. However the first time I went the photos weren’t showing up on the memory stick and so I had to go back and reload them. She was telling me how to be prepared for everything to go wrong, and to have a back up for everything as lots of things she planned at gone wrong this year including her portfolio and photo shoot.
I put together the swing tags and helped her with her stand, which I was really impressed with .. I think it was the attention to detail and the theme throughout that made it strong. She had problems with her portfolio which must have been really annoying as she had booked to print it and then when she arrived at Leeds Uni they said they didn’t print A2 front and back..then at staples it cost £60 + so she had to print it A4 in the end which she seemed a little bit gutted about. I think the key for third year is going to be preparation and organisation so nothing gets left behind or left too late.
We got our results back on Thursday also and I was really pleased with my marks :
Research Practices 78 , PPD2 73 and enterprise 73.
I think what I was most happy about was the fact that I got 76% for my interview and action plan for PPD2 as this was an area I was worried would let me down, hopefully this shows that my skills in this area have developed.

Interview, action plan and working with the third years

My interview fro PPD2 was on Friday and I am really happy to say I think it went quite well, I think I came across enthusiastic and passionate about my work and what I wanted to do with my future and career. It was quite tricky to answer some questions like what to do you like and dislike about you but I think I managed to come up with some good answers. The only annoying thing about the interview was how hot it was in the room! We were interviewed by Gemma and a women that we were told was a buyer for Harvey Nichols (it was later reviled that she actually owned her own business) Putting my portfolio together made me feel really proud of myself, looking at an overall collection of how I have developed over the past year. I was happy that I had managed to put together a portfolio that I felt I could talk positively about and use as a prop to sell myself. It seems a world away that I came in the first week and felt so behind, having ever done any fashion related work before ..I remember being worried that I would not succeed on this course. I just feel like I’ve learnt so much and really found something I have a passion for and something that drives me to go further.
With the interview I handed in my action plan for year three and it went as follows:
ACTION 1: To generate design ideas in a wider variety of ways
I will go about this by sampling more on the stand rather than just putting shapes on the body. Also deconstructing garments upon the stand as I did in tailoring practices helped me develop design ideas so I plan to do this more. I will know this has been successful when my design ideas are more developed and understood.
ACTION 2: Improve technical detail of research work. I
I will do this by keeping up a more professional technique within my research work – keeping the same written style and technique thoroughly throughout. I will know I have achieved this when my research work has a slightly more finished and professional appearance
ACTION 3: I will develop my presentation skills
I will do this by becoming more confident talking about my own work and presenting my work. I want to develop this as for the trend project when I had to present my trend humble heritage I felt this was my weakness and I could have improved eye contact and interacting with the audience. I will no I have achieved this when I feel more confident presenting my own ideas to large groups.
ACTION 4: I will become more competent using cad illustrations.
I will do this by experimenting further using illustrator so I am not completely reliant upon hand rendered illustrations. I will know I have achieved this when I competent using illustrator to create strong illustrations.
ACTION 5: I would like to improve my time management when researching
I felt for the last project I needed more time upon research as I hadn’t had time to do any whilst doing my work placement at Easter. So in the future I want to plan out my time so I can organise and track my progress on a project. I will know I have achieved this when I complete a project in an organised and planned manner
ACTION 6: I want to further develop my pattern cutting skills
I feel my pattern cutting skills and confidence have really improved since my first year, however as I am gaining more confidence I am realising how much there is to learn within pattern cutting and I want my skills to be more advanced. To achieve this I am going to practice over summer making garments and pushing myself to make new things. I will know I have achieved this when I feel confident to make a range of new garments that I haven’t made before.
On another note we have been allocated our third years to work with in the next week. My third year Grace is really nice actually and I had the chance to look at her work today which was good to see. Today was very busy, all morning we were painting the boards for the exhibition stand ..this was a bit of a mission seen as there were HEAPS of boards that all needed painting several times, gum taped in places and polyfilled ! It took a long time but I guess it was an experience! It was kind of annoying that loads of people didn’t come in as all the people that did really worked together and we got stuck in and got it done! Other than that I went to town for my third year, did some photocopying and went to Leeds uni to book a digital printing slot for her portfolio. Wonder what I’ll be doing tomorrow, something interesting I hope.

Research Practices and Critical Studies feedback..

Well firstly I got my critical studies results on Tuesday and I was so happy to get 77, I was quite shocked as I wasn’t really sure how I had done but I was really interested in the subject matter and felt I researched it quite thoroughly so I was glad it was successful. It also makes me feel a bit more reassured about my dissertation for xyear and I think I’m going to stick to the same subject of sustainability and consumerism as it really interests me. To be honest I really like writing so I did really enjoy the change in doing some more academic work as I kind of miss it from A –level English sometimes!
As for feedback the positives were:

Excellent subject knowledge
Complete response to brief and title
Well formatted bibliography
Excellent range of research
Logical clear structure

And the negatives were:
Could have considered more positive practice if had time
Proof read more
Some sections appear a little disconnected from main argument
So for the dissertation I need to make sure I proof read really thoroughly, considering more positive ethical practices and makes sure all theorists and arguments link completely and don’t become disconnected from the main argument

Research practices was a hard project time management wise as I hadn’t had as much preparation time as I would have liked in Easter as I was on the placement. However I got it all finished in the end and I think I came up with quite a strong concept and branding which I will hopefully do well on. This project has really made me think about what I want from my third year research and has given me quite a strong initial starting point. I enjoyed all the researching and creating the final line up but I found it quite tricky to produce a garment in half scale because it was just so small and fiddly! Here is some of my work for this module:

Research practices and further development of portfolio..

Research practices is coming to an end now - I went home last week and I took more pictures of lost and found concepts that supported my work .I like to use mostly all my own photographs and images from where I live, this seem to get me most interested in projects. Doing this project and the previous humble heritage one has really made me consider what I want to do for third year - I think I will take aspects of what I have explored within the trend module and of course research practice. It has really got me thinking about my future career and what I’m truly interested in. I think ideally I would like to be a designer and/or illustrator -but doing enterprise and pattern cutting more even makes me consider my own business in the future. Which I never thought I would say, however I think I have developed greatly in confidence over this year in particular and I understand better what my strengths and weaknesses are and what I enjoy and what I don’t so much. I think my work placement really did aid me in understanding this. It showed me that I can cope with real working situations and hold my own on a project, by being given real responsibility. I was looking through my portfolio for my interview for PPD I am pleased with how it looks and remember how stressful it was putting it together for my interview with Bunmi Koko. I need to edit it slightly as I have some first year work in there that I want to replace with second year work I have recently done. Here are some of the strongest images in my portfolio:

Enterprise, the cape and illustration..

This has been such a busy week - firstly my group completed their dolly mixture clothing presentation for enterprise. It went quite well, we had a washing line prop with a sample garment, launch party poster, cards etc. We all spoke clearly and as planned and I think it came across well also. The only negatives were that it was suggested that our passion might not be the customer’s passion and having recycled clothing may not be successful as the main part of our business. Our customer profile got positive feedback and overall I think it went fairly well especially considering we only were awarded 1000 but we created a really exciting business with this.
On other news I made a garment for a shop in Leeds, and we went along to a launch event for it the other night, it was brilliant the place was decorated really well and it had a really cool vibe about it. I was really proud of myself as I had pushed myself trying to finish my cape and I was so happy with the finished product.
I was also asked to do an illustration for a new website launching about fashion, photography illustration etc. So I am feeling a bit behind with research practices as I have spent my time doing that as well. However it made me realise that if I really push myself I can do other things alongside the course to gain more experience.

Hand In and new project..

I handed in my enterprise file and my critical studies portfolio today and I was so pleased to get it out the way! I’m so glad I started the enterprise file quite early and began researching and typing up notes at Christmas or I wouldn’t have been able to finish with all the other things to juggle! Crit portfolio I was also quite happy with- fingers crossed I get a good mark!
Next on the agenda is making a decent start on the new project research practices. Because I had my work placement over summer I felt like I was really behind when we had our first session on Wednesday. I had my concept and idea, with a few photographs but i hadn’t properly devleoped it all. I feel like I have so many ideas but because I’m feeling behind I’m finding it hard to get them down on the page !
However I am going home next weekend and i have lost of ideas of things I need to take pictures of so I’m hoping that will drive my idea along a bit! I cant wait to go home actually I feel like I have had no proper break, work placement really tired me out (even though I really enjoyed it) but I went straight from that into work for the course again so I cant wait to go home and see everyone and relax a bit !

Work Experience with Bunmi Koko..

I have just arrived back from my three week work placement with the luxury brand Bunmi Koko. I stayed in South End with Siobhan and commuted to London every day. The whole placement went really fast and it was hard work but I really enjoyed myself and I think I learnt a variety of new skills that I can hopefully take further in my career

Week one
29th March
Today felt like a bit of a blur I had to wake up at 6 to catch my train to London as I am commuting from South End. It was really busy and a bit mad travelling in but I found my way quite easily. I began the day being familiarized with the brand itself and the latest collections. I was also introduced to the team who were all really welcoming.
Firstly I had to order a list of items that were needed and then later on in the day I worked on the range plan for the new collection for A/W 10/11. The managing director set me a task of being in charge of a file that pulls together all the information for this new collection including range plans, sales information, flats and colour and fabric indications etc. I spent most of the day finishing the range plan working out all the garment descriptions and matching them with their codes, fabric and colour choices. It was all quite confusing at first but as I became more familiar with the brand and the concept surrounding this collection it all became straight forward. Beginning to complete this file really made me realise how organized you have to be as an individual and as a company to keep all the information in order. Especially when a range plan is sent to your buyers who would then understand what fabric and colour choices they had to select from. As these buyers essentially determine your sales the range plan has to be completed in an accurate and professional way.


30th March
I was really tired today but excited for my second day. I began by having a discussion with the managing director the importance of the sales and marketing department which I was working within today. I carried on with the range plan and completing the file for A/W 10/11. I began the detailed specification. Working within the sales department made me more familiar with the business and technical side to the business. Later on in the day I was instructed to call buyers. I went through a list of 60 buyers and followed them up regarding whether they received the Geisha Reform collection look book or not. I also was asked to invite them to the Bunmi Koko Launch party. After calling the first few buyers I became more confident talking about the brand. Many of the listed contacts were difficult to talk to talk too as they were very reluctant to give information about their buyers. At the end of the day I was pleased to get to do some pattern cutting. I made a pattern for some skinny leggings which I really enjoyed as I hadn’t had a chance at the more hands on side of the company yet.
1st April
I began scanning some illustrations of accessories in for another intern to work on. I did some more pattern cutting today which I really enjoyed. It was interesting to see how patterns were created within the industry. Its just simple things like the pattern paper Bunmi uses, that has dots and crosses to indicate the grain line and bias. I had to complete the detailing specification and print off and complete the sizing guide.
They also talked about letting me get involved with the spring summer 10/11 collection and Fashion Fringe entry. I’m hoping I will get to do this as I am really eager to get involved with the more creative side of the company.
I answered the phone alot today and added new contacts to the buyers list. I also had to look up some celebrities on “Red book” to find PR information to send look books to clients. I was also told to send a letter to a stylist to create more contacts.
2nd April
Today was the best day so far, I got briefed on the spring/summer collection and I got to head the research. I completed quite a lot of research pages and I was pleased with them. Bunmi said that the project needed exploring further and they said that I had turned the project around so I was really happy about that. It's a shame I can't put any of my research or design up as they collection has not been released yet.However it was interesting to see the way in which they did research they had one massive pin board and they put up all the stimulating images for the project. And all the research pages produced they pin up as well. I could see the positives to this as you can see all your inspirations at once, which is helpful. I found out a few really good fabric and trimmings shops as we were sourcing fabrics for the accessories for the new collection.


Week 2
6th April
Today I was asked to finish all the research and I did the last 9 pages before 3’Oclock. I think my research skills really improved. It made me really consider timescales and how if I really put my mind to something I can get more work done than I would expect.
Also I had to research the fabric story so I looked through all of Bunmi’s fabric files and chose the fabrics that were suitable for the concept.
7th April
Began today designing from my research, I was really pleased about the responsibility that I have been given as I was working mainly on my own for this project. I actually found it quite difficult to design for someone else as it’s hard to get into their mind set and understand what they are thinking. I realised that designing for a brand is very different to designing for yourself. When designing for yourself you can let your mind go anywhere and go off on a tangent but if you are designing for someone else you have to constantly keep in mind the concept and the vision someone else has in mind. Bunmi told me to keep in mind what sort of designs Bunmi Koko produces as a brand. Bunmi Koko designs are Feminine and flattering to a women and often dress- heavy. I think I need to further develop how I communicate my design ideas, she said I had a really positive drawing skills but I needed to make sure that I what I was drawing was easy to understand to another designers. Later on in the day I carried on with the fabric and colour story which I really enjoyed.



8th April
I had a really good day ,I was instructed to fabric source today and run a few errands. Firstly I went to Laurent Garigue who sell luxury fabrics. They sell to companies like Yves St Laurent and Gucci. There were two simple rails inside one for Autumn/ Winter and one for Spring/ summer. I was instructed to pick up some red organza previously ordered by Bunmi. She also asked me to select 6 more fabric swatches that would fit in with new collection. I felt like I had quite free reign upon these choices which was nice. However it did make me recognise how critical fabric choices are. Especially in fabric places such as this one when you are only allowed to select 6 swatches. I chose some really nice fabrics that fitted quite well after a lot of deliberation. After this I went to a place just off Oxford Street called New Trimmings. It was a really cool shop actually; I picked up some fringing and some masks for the AW collection.
I also went to a really good fashion magazine shop RD Franks Bunmi said I should take a look at it, I was in my element it had sooo many good fashion magazines in there. I would have bought the shop if I could !!



Week 3
12th April
I began by looking at the fabrics that have just arrived from Paris and selected the ones suitable for the collection I have been researching. The fabrics were so beautifully made and I really enjoyed sorting through them.
Next I made a summary of the project outline highlighting the intended colour, fabrics, silhouettes and inspirations. We also all came up with a project name together. That’s one of the things I really liked about my internship some of the decisions and opinions were made together with Bunmi herself and everyone in the studio, including interns. It was nice to really feel part of a team and that your opinion was taken into account.
Later on in the day I helped to make a pattern for a draped skirt, it was such a difficult pattern to work on as because it was originally moulaged. The pattern was really big and had loads and loads of notches to match up for the pleats. I felt I had really learnt to be more accurate and professional when producing patterns, as less than a cm I found can really effect how especially something draped can fall and look on the body.

Once I arrived back I added the fabrics I had collected to the fabric story and it seemed to create a clearer concept for the collection as the fabrics were more defined. I also helped package a dress for South African Fashion Week. I began pattern cutting some skinny trousers later on in the day.


13th April
Today I did a lot of pattern making and tracing patterns with the other intern Rebecca. I felt like I learnt a lot on this again as it was a lot of checking and working out. Later that day I carried on writing the brief for the new project I’ve been working on .


14th April
Bunmi and Francis had a meeting today so I did some more pattern making with another intern. We had a list of pattern cutting tasks to complete. I altered the neck line and added extra ease onto one pattern. Then I had to drape a toile which was quite confusing but worked out okay. Later on in the day I had to trace some fabrics that hadn’t arrived from France. We had another fabric order later on in the day and it had arrived all wrong. It made me realise how problematic something like this can be as if something was due to be made for the next day and the wrong fabric arrives then a client may be lost as well as money for a company.
15th April
Today I worked on the photographic brief, for the A/W collection. As it is nearly ready to be shot for ad campaigns and look books. I was working on the brief that outlined how each look will be accessorised and the schedule that will be sent out to models and the photographer etc. It was quite a big job as it was a very long brief but it was interesting and I think quite essential to make sure everyone new whet they were doing and that the day is planned and used appropriately.
16th April
Today was my last day and I worked mainly upon the photographic brief again expect this time I was using Photoshop to create pages that detail how each outfit will be photographed. It showed images of the poses that show that garment of to its best, the makeup, hair etc. I quite enjoyed this as apposed to the brief as it was a more visual way of showing what was required by the photographer.
The night before they took me and some of the other interns out to The Mayfair hotel bar for champagne and food to say thank you for my help over the past 3 weeks, I really enjoyed myself , it was so nice of them to do this !
Near the end of the day they held a presentation for me, it was really nice. They brought me a card and a fashion book. I was quite sad to leave as I felt I had really fitted in with the team and it has been a really inspiring three weeks, working for Bunmi Koko.