Jo Price, Apprentice Lecturer at the Fashion Technology Academy (FTA) gives feedback on the latest ‘How Quality is Measured in Fashion’ session with Della Nelson, adapted for the High Street market.
Jo said: ‘Today, 21st November, at the FTA we had another fantastic and informative session from industry expert Della Nelson.
‘I had briefed Della previously about my group of learners and the companies they work for as the previous group of apprentices were working on the couture side of the industry whilst today’s group were high street based.
‘I was amazed at how Della, who does not have teaching experience, was able to adapt the session for these apprentices and engage the learners by involving them in guessing which garments were more expensive and why.
‘Della still showed us the amazing range of vintage and modern garments and the apprentices had the chance to feel and look at beautiful silks, hand-cut lace and engineered one-off pieces from the past.
‘The apprentices were actively interested throughout and asked many questions. There was an interesting discussion on how, in the past, people would happily pay more for high quality and how in today’s industry we cut corners to make garments cheaper.
Apprentice feedback included:
“It was really interesting looking at a Dior dress from the 1950’s along with the detailing and construction and gain an insight to how garments from the past were made.” Alessandra Whittingham apprentice for ASOS.com.
“Absolutely loved having an industry expert showing us a wonderful range of vintage garments and to see the workmanship that goes into making them high-end quality.” Alex Wayman apprentice for Top Man.
Della added: “Another excellent session today discussing “what is quality” and how do we “measure quality”, with the apprentices. Quality is a vast subject and should be present in every process of the garments life cycle.
“It is just great to share my knowledge with the future professionals who are interested and inquisitive about the industries varied methods, to achieve quality within cost restraints and compare past and present quality make and finish.”