After sending my CV in response to a work experience opportunity with Lisa Card, an Alumni of my course, I was successful in gaining a two week placement with the company Armondi, in Kentish Town, London. Armondi supply for the high street, for companies such as Marks and Spencers, Wallis, Miss Selfridge, Evans, Austin Reed, Matalan, Dunnes, Mackays and several others. Working alongside the Junior Designer and team in the Tailoring and Soft's department I gained a valuable first insight into the high street fashion industry...
The headquarters were laid out in such a way that the atmosphere and opportunity to observe, whilst working was fantastic! There was an open plan design studio and office space, Gerber pattern room, Pattern cutting studio (photo), garment sampling construction studio, fabrics, trimmings and haberdashery sourcing cupboards, sample room and client meeting rooms and a garment distribution warehouse!All under one roof! It was overwhelming at first but everyone was so lovely and made me feel like part of the team almost immediately...
Some of the main tasks I carried out were:
*Issuing of patterns and fabric selection ready for sampling
*Completing design specification sheets
*Attending a meeting with a supplier: observing and helping to select a new range of buttons for next season
*Cataloguing fabrics and belts
*Selecting accessories, buttons and trimmings for theme trend stories
In the second week, I was invited to sit in with Lisa Card for a few days who is the junior designer, which meant that I was able to observe the design process first hand and was given some key pointers and information.
It was a hectic, fast pace two weeks, full of fantastic experiences, new skills, exciting insights, interesting people and beautiful clothes! My first real fashion work placement and what a fascinating learning curve :)
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