Inspiring local youngsters to a career in design

THIS Saturday marks the final event in a pilot initiative designed to give young people aged between 14 and 16 the opportunity to study fashion at their local university for free.

The Fashion and Business Saturday Club was launched by the British Fashion Council and the Sorrell Foundation in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University’s Hollings Faculty.

The aim of the Club is to inspire and nurture talent and provide opportunities to go on to further education in the creative industries.

Experts at Manchester Met provided tuition in a variety of fashion techniques to pupils from 13 schools across Manchester, with a strong emphasis on enterprise skills. As well as attending practical weekly classes, Saturday Club members had the opportunity to take part in exhibition visits, meet professionals working in the fashion industry, attend masterclasses and have their work exhibited at Somerset House in London.

Manchester has had a sportswear theme including masterclasses with Nabil Nayal, a previous recipient of a BFC Education Foundation Scholarship.

Jo Jenkinson, Principal Lecturer in Fashion at Manchester Met, said: “The Saturday club has been a wonderful experience for everyone involved. We have had great feedback from our club members but also from the student helpers, guest lecturers, core staff and support technicians. It has been a lot of fun.

“The programme has been very fast paced, we have included as many diverse experiences of fashion as possible, and the club members have amazed us with their maturity, commitment, talent and self-awareness. We are looking forward to celebrating the amazing work produced by the club at this weekend’s exhibition and again in June at Somerset House.”

Lady Frances Sorrell said, “We are delighted about working with the BFC, a lot of young people are interested in clothing, it’s where they start their interest in creativity. The idea of the Saturday Club is to show 14-16 year olds pathways into different sides of the creative industries so they can discover new opportunities.”

A parallel strand of the club was hosted by the University of Brighton, focussing on fashion illustration.