Girls get insight into fashion industry
PUPILS were given an insight into the fashion industry when a pupil returned to a city school.
Madeleine Michell, who left the Portsmouth High School in 2014, went back to talk to Year 9 and 10 youngsters about sustainability.
She said: ‘I wanted to explore with the girls their thoughts on what is fashion and what is sustainability. In the words of yachtswoman, Ellen MacArthur, ‘we need a new textile economy in which clothes are designed differently, worn longer, and recycled and reused much more often.’
Madeleine completed a placement with top fashion and textile designer Mary Katrantzou.
She added: ‘Alongside the workshop, I am conducting a study which explores an approach to changing the fashion buying habits, specifically of young women, which are having a negative impact on our global environment.
‘The girls engaged in a simple garment- making process, using part circle-shaped pieces of fabric to construct a garment to fit their body. This, hopefully, will encourage understanding, through participation, of the skills required to make clothing.
Year 9 pupil Zara Best said: ‘I never realised how much waste there was.
‘And it has made me appreciate how big the industry is.’