Molly Quinn

The Course

I chose to study at Manchester Fashion Institute, as I knew people who had previously studied here before me and they couldn’t speak highly enough of the teaching and opportunities that they received. The course appealed to me as it offers you the chance to develop yourself not only intellectually but creatively as well. The course really enables you to showcase what you have to offer through assignments that encourage you to think for yourself and approach your work in the way that you think is suitable. This course really does have the benefit of enabling you to be taken seriously in both a fashion and business environment.

In my second year, we had the opportunity to create a customer experience in groups for Selfridges, based on a live brief set by the Trafford Centre Visual Merchandising Manager. I love the creativity of this project, and how it encouraged us to evaluate all aspects of the customer journey. My group was also selected to present the VM Manager to be considered as a real fixture in Selfridges. This was an amazing opportunity to gain feedback about our work from an industry expert and practice my pitching skills.

Another assignment that I have enjoyed has been in my third year, centred on sustainability in the fashion industry. The assignment was to develop research into an area of sustainability that we were particularly interested in and to create a website surrounding the issues that became apparent and highlighting the potential solutions, mine can be found here.

The Facilities

Although my course is more theory and business based in comparison to some of the more creative courses that Manchester Fashion Institute offer, being a part of the Institute enables us to be able to explore other areas outside of our own. We have the opportunity to develop our textiles skills through Skills Development workshops offered outside our course, as well as developing our Computer Aided Design (CAD) skills through programmes available to us such as Adobe as part of our learning.

Student Support

Throughout my time at university, I have found the support from staff to be great. Many of my tutors have worked in the industry themselves, and they are able to give you insight that you cannot gain from textbooks – this is really helpful to take your work to the next level. I’m sure that much of what I have been taught from them will be very useful within my career, and I am very grateful for this.

The Opportunities

I currently work as a stylist within the new Marks and Spencer’s Fit and Style Studio, an opportunity that was offered through being a student at Manchester Fashion Institute. This has been an amazing chance for me to develop both my commercial and trend awareness. Being a new project, I have also had the opportunity to feedback and meet with members of the M&S Head Office leading the project and I got to share my ideas for improvement with them. In addition to this, I have been involved with the setting up and running of the studio’s social media pages, something that will be valuable experience when applying for future job roles.

I also been lucky enough to have the ‘Industry Insider’ talks as part of my course, enabling me to hear from important representatives from within the fashion industry from companies such as Mulberry, Selfridges and JD Sports, who have given me important first-hand insight into the industry.

Plans for the future

In May this year, I will be attending the Youth Fashion Summit in Copenhagen. Only 112 students were picked globally to attend the summit, therefore I feel so grateful for this amazing opportunity. The summit will give me a chance to stand on stage and as a group, present what we have learnt at the Global Fashion Summit, which will be attended by some of the industry’s most influential characters including Stella McCartney.

When I graduate, I hope to work somewhere within wholesale, marketing or PR – careers that will enable me to work with people. In addition to this, I would also be very excited to use my knowledge by focusing my career on sustainability, as this is an issue that will become more prevalent in the future.

Top tips for potential students

I would advise that future students think about what area of the industry they might want to go into early in their student career. Although you will have plenty of time whilst you’re here it’s good to know so that you can tailor your assignments to your interests and build a portfolio of work around your career aspirations.

I would also encourage future students to try and find a job that you can do related to the industry whilst studying, whilst your study should always come first it’s good to gain some experience that you can add to your CV.