The future of fashion: what is taught in fashion schools
If you think that a fashion designer is by all means a person like Vyacheslav Zaitsev or Valentin Yudashkin, who sits in an empty office and comes up with elegant sketches with the stroke of a pen, he has to be disappointed - the work of the designer is much more complicated. However, it’s certainly not easy to learn about it: unfortunately, there are not so many places where you can get a good specialized education. What are universities really preparing for future fashion designers? We asked about the fashion of recent graduates of local educational institutions.
It seems to me that fashion is progressing. If only recently it was aimed at self-destruction, denial of values, now we see bodipositive on the podiums, eco-clothes and actions in favor of saving endangered species - to put it simply, we are gradually improving what we have recently destroyed. I am very fond of creativity, brightness, courage and endless possibilities of fashion now. People are no longer afraid to stand out, because society itself has changed beyond recognition.
As for me personally, I always wanted to be a designer or an artist. I entered the design environment, but the priority was on the costume. Not to say that I was particularly excited about becoming a designer — rather, for me, it was a way to find myself. Now I would love to go abroad. I have such an age when more and more I want to open the world.
I am saddened by the quality of education now: many disciplines have simply been removed, the good teachers have left. Plus, I do not understand why we spent half the time of training on physical education, life support, the history of Russia and the Russian language. Now I regret that instead of these items we were not given plastic anatomy, for example, or more paintings with a picture. Fortunately, despite this, we were still given valuable knowledge, taught not to be afraid to look for something new. My stream of the 14th year didn’t make much of it - maybe only a couple of girls flew abroad to practice. But many old students of our Omsk University became famous - but they and their teachers were different.
The fashion industry in Russia now is an open field. I assess the state of any sphere by the number of people moving innovative approach and fresh views, and we have few such specialists. But the ice has already broken - I have no doubt that the Russian renaissance will soon erupt.
Fashion is a curious indicator of the state of society as a whole. Previously, the appearance could tell about the profession, wealth, marital status, interests - now the boundaries are blurred. For example, if a person is dressed in pajamas, this does not mean that he is getting ready for bed, and if there are details of workwear in the attire, this does not mean that he is going to lay asphalt. Modern fashion language is very free and interesting, and I, in turn, like to invent a new dialect for him. I am often thrown from one extreme to another: from the feeling that I am engaged in useless nonsense to the feeling that with the help of this work I can change the way people think. It is important for me not to try to please public tastes, and to remain relevant to the modern spirit.
The training system in our institute as a whole is built efficiently. True, there are some nuances: for example, in the first year they give a huge amount of disciplines - as for me, unbearable for most children. Subjects of both theoretical and practical nature, which are sometimes difficult to learn well, no matter how interesting they are. But I am very glad that I ended up at the HSE Design School and right now. The main problems of Russian education are usually associated with the lack of competition, the stagnation of the system and the lack of practical experience of theoretical teachers, but none of these things touched our School.
I think that if fashion is taken seriously at the state level, then first of all, in order to prove something to someone. This is normal. But, in my opinion, there are a lot of other areas that need help, from ecology to secondary education. In a fashion of this kind, support could be useful for research projects and educational programs - and only then to individual talented people.
I began to stylize the shooting in 2013, when I lived in St. Petersburg - and the following year I moved to Moscow, since I entered the British. I felt that I lacked orderly knowledge, and a three-month course was clearly not enough - and I just really love to learn. In British, I was able to try new things: for example, to create my own journal in a single copy at the end of the semester of art direction.
I still think that it is almost impossible to teach a person to stylize shooting - it’s about taste, about smell, about seeing proportions. But for the stylist, it’s not just that that matters. The ability to make an entire team understandable board, communication before shooting and during it, understanding how all participants in the process work - this can be explained. The British gave me this knowledge.
Now there is a place for almost everything in fashion, and this is both inspiring and scary. I would like the fashion industry in Russia to become less inert, so that freedom of expression would prevail over mossy ideas about what one “needs” to wear. Clothing has always attracted me with the opportunity to play, to transform, while remaining myself. I would like to help people enjoy the clothes, its playful and ironic components. I hope one day I will succeed.
Our university gives a strong preparation, but only if the student is willing to make an effort and perceive the costume design as an integral part of their lives. The study was inspiring: teachers eagerly shared their knowledge and personal experience, and at times they learned something from scratch along with the students and, importantly, encouraged curiosity.
Not everything can be learned at the university, some of the nuances of the profession are learned afterwards. Training takes place in an inspiring atmosphere, it seems that at work everyone is already waiting for you. But at the very first production (I stress, it is in the mass production of clothing) the freshly baked specialist faces a different picture of the world: employers have their own requirements, vision of the situation and the market. Simply put, students are not prepared for the fact that their fantasies and ideas may simply not be needed. The second point is that employers are looking for confident employees, and there are few of these, especially right after the institute. Not everyone knows for sure whether they will continue their professional path in the fashion industry - such students have a hard time already during their studies. Our work must be given in full.
Everything that we were taught at the institute regarding design came in handy at the first jobs. This is the basis, the skeleton, which already has been overgrown with a multitude of specialty features that you have never guessed. Here and the skill of working with people in a team, and market analysis aimed at a specific consumer, and narrowly focused tasks for which you need to come up with ideological solutions.
I also wanted to say about trends: the search for trends for the next season at the institute and at work is very different. In training, we focus on foreign fashion weeks, and in production the employer needs an analysis of the local market. My colleagues and I often faced the fact that foreign tendencies do not suit Russia at all, moreover, in each region we have our own special relationship with clothes.
Both institutions gave me useful knowledge, but they are more connected with the artistic component of the profession. Unlike the institute, the college gave the opportunity to practice in several theaters, where I saw what constitutes the costume designer's profession from the inside. But if theater as an industry has existed for a long time, then it is impossible to say so about fashion. The fashion industry in Russia is very young, and we still have no generation of professionals who could pass on their experience and knowledge to students.
Students learned to think creatively and sew well, but it is unclear what to do with this further - we are not taught this. I remember how everyone on the graduation course asked each other with a frightened look: "What do you plan to do next?" Some go to young brands. According to the stories of my classmate, at work in one such brand she spent three months searching for the right color of fabric for a piece of tape. How can you get professional growth in such a place?
Probably the best solution for me is to start my own business right away, while learning from mistakes in parallel. All the necessary information can be found on the Internet - now there are a lot of articles, lectures and interviews with the creators of our brands. Thematic events are held, for example, the Be In Forum is very great. Domestic fashion market in Russia is developing very actively, there are new brands that really make decent clothes at the right price. For the consumer, it is very important - the originality and quality of the product is now in priority.