Information Exchange Evening

The information exchange evening was a chance for me to meet and ask students who had just come back from work placements/ experience questions. It is to give us an idea of whether we want to do a year placement or just a few weeks experience and where we want to go. Here is what I found out...

Laura Mansell - Eternal Spirits, Nottingham

Eternal Spirits is an independant boutique in Nottingham that makes and sells Bridal wear, lingerie, corsets and accessories. Laura worked there for nine months, to get this placement she rang the company almost every day and had an interview there. She was paid travel expenses. Tasks included creating window displays, merchandising, fabric sourcing, she made a corset of her own, sourced accessories for photo shoots, crystallised corsets with swarovski crystals, maintained the website and was the backstage manager for a fashion show. She enjoyed all of it and didn't have a least favourite part. Her working hours were 9am till 5/5.30pm mon to fri but if there was a show to prpare for she would work till 6/7pm. Laura would definately recommend Eternal Spirits and says her confidence has grown and her fabric choices have improved.

Laura Pearson - Playboy, Nottingham

Laura worked at Playboy for three months, her role was Junior Designer, she assisted the designers and was paid £50 a week. Her tasks involved creating colour pallettes and mood boards, creating graphics for tshirts and she designed a garment using CAD. Hert favourite part was she got free stuff including a coat from the winter 08 collection the company also paid for her to go to the Designer Forum in Nottingham. Her working hours were mon to thurs 9am to 5.30 pm. Sarah learnt a lot about using CAD and said the people there are friendly and helpful.

Lauren Middleton - Alice takes a trip, Sheffield

Lauren worked here for 5 weeks, she designed and made her own collection which was then sold. Lauren also helped with fashion shows. She says her favourite part was making her own collection and then actually selling it. Her least favourite part was promoting, handing out flyers on the street. The working hours were mon to fri but were flexible, Lauren didn't see it as an actual job. She learnt about promotion and also how to pick models for the fashion shows.

Hayley Lytell - BC International

Hayley worked at BC International a company that produces garments with brand images on them such as children's television characters for one year. Her role was product developer, she was not paid. Tasks she took part in were visiting swimwear exhibitions, liasing with manufacturing,making sure products designed were in budget, overseeing the development process and developing new shapes for garments to british standards. Best part for her was she got a lot of factory contacts and also the people were really nice. Her working hours were 9am-5.30pm mon to fri. What she didn't like about working there was she doesn't actually like the clothes the company makes and she didn't like having to measure up garments. She wished she had a more creative role and hadn't taken the first placement she found.

Laura Fox - Burberry and Sixtynine magazine

Laura was an assistand technician and worked there for 3 months, her role was to shadow the sample machinist. She was not paid and her working hours were 8.30am to 5.30pm, she said it was good to see the factories. Laura worked at Sixtynine magazine for 3 weeks her role there was to rewrite press releases, her favourite part was interviewing an ex England football player. Laura wasn't sure what she wanted to do and so tried different job roles.

Krishna Haveliwala - Vogue New York and Esquire magazine

Krishna worked at Vogue for 3 months she didn't get paid as she didn't have a Visa even though her rent was £1000 a month. She found working at Vogue challenging but a good experience, it was very competetive and she wasn't allowed a break all day. Her favourite part was meeting lots of designers but the worst part was the atmosphere was intense and bitchy, she even got to pick up Anna Wintour's drycleaning. Apparantly you can't get a job at Vogue people just get promoted to positions.

At Esquire magazine Krishna learnt more, she unpacked and steamed clothes there. The editor actually spoke to her and the people were nice. She got a two day job through Esquire with M&S she was paid £100 a day, she dressed mannequins and was allowed to give her opinions and ideas. Krishna wishes she had done a placement in design.