48 students from Y Pant Comprehensive School in Rhondda Cynon Taf got to sample life in the fashion industry as part of a new nation-wide campaign to boost the skills of fashion industry entrants.
Students at Y Pant Comprehensive are some of the first in the country to experience the “Unzipped!” studio, organised by Skillfast-UK, the Sector Skills Council for fashion and textiles.
The Unzipped! campaign aims to give young people a realistic idea of the skills needed to work in the competitive fashion and textiles business, by letting students try the kind of activities they would undertake in real-life jobs.
Linda Florance, Skillfast-UK’s chief executive, said: “Many young people want to work in fashion and textiles, without really knowing much about the kinds of jobs you can do, or the skills you need. It can be hard for schools to take students into factories, so instead we’ve brought the factory to the school, to give pupils some proper hands-on experience.”
killfast-UK built the special 8m diameter Unzipped! studio in the gym at the school. The studio featured four challenge areas, where teams of students were asked to create design sketches to a set brief, operate standard industry equipment to test different fabrics, produce a “lay-plan” for a high-street shirt, and cost components for a jacket within a set budget.
Caroline Wool, School Community Development Officer at Y Pant Comprehensive said: “The Unzipped studio expanded on what can be taught in the classroom making it more real and relevant to the world outside of school. It also illustrates the wider industry and demonstrates the importance of having technical skills as well as creative talent”.
Councillor Eudine Hanagan, Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, said: “This unique programme has given young people a real insight in to the fashion world and an opportunity to make informed career choices in relation to the fashion world. You never know, we could have the next Julien Macdonald in our presence.”
One of the students taking part in the Unzipped! session, said; “I really enjoyed doing the activities and seeing how the industry works. I was already interested in a career in fashion, the Unzipped experience has confirmed that I definitely want to work in fashion and textiles and I’m keen to develop my technical skills.”
The studio was at Y Pant School for a whole week and 7 other schools from across RCT and Cardiff visited the studio to take part in the activities. For more details on the Unzipped! studio visit www.skillfast-uk.org/unzipped.
