By Aneela Aziz

I went to a fashion workshop on the 24th September 2011. The purpose of the workshop was for young people to be involved in a project as part of the organisation Aspire4U and their work and effort they have put into the project will be presented on the Talent show in Birmingham on the 30th of September.

The fashion workshop was run by a fashion expert, who gave us a introduction to the fashion industry on facts and figures, and the aim of the workshop was for the fashion designers to work alongside the models, do a bit of research and look into fashion magazines and create a mood board for what colours and styles are in fashion and are on the market at the moment. At the end the fashion designers have to create a fashion clothing piece with material provided for them to put onto the manikin.

I was eager to learn more about the fashion designers and models and what has inspired them to become designers and models and how they got involved in the project. So I spoke to model Chelene, 24, who from a young age has always wanted to become a model. She gets involved in projects so she can be heard and seen by others to become a model, along side this she also does advertising campaigns for Heart FM radio station. What was interesting is she made a point about some modeling agencies that have told her to lose weight, but when I looked at her she looked healthy and she told me she was a size 8 to 10. It really makes me think about the pressure some models go through to satisfy modeling companies, although what I liked about Chelene was that she said to me that ‘I’m proud of my size and I’m not losing anymore weight for anyone’. I liked her attitude and says it how it is and will not let anyone control her and take control of her figure.

Alongside meeting the models I also met the fashion designers who were really interesting. A fashion designer Chaliee, 22, went to college to study business. At the time she thought she enjoyed it but as she got into the course she said it wasn’t for her and couldn’t see herself pursuing her career into business, so she changed her course to a BTEC in fashion, which she really enjoyed. She now enjoys designing clothes, specializing in party outfits, and the project she says is good for her as she express her creativity and designing party dresses for the models to wear at the event which she can’t wait for. Another fashion designer Nia, 18, always loved being creative in the fashion area. From year 10 she did GCSE Art and went to college to do a BTEC fashion course, and now she is doing a foundation degree in fashion before she goes to university next year. Nia creates clothes that are not wearable and something you would see on the catwalk with over the top designs that are only worn as one off. Also Sophie, 23, who did a degree in fashion and has her own independent fashion range ‘pretty little poppet’ and promotes the clothes she wears on herself and she enjoys what she does and the project also helps her to show what she is made of and what she can do. 

Saima, 25, did a creative degree and has done work from childrens illustrator to administrative work, she is now a professional Taylor. She got involved in the project as she enjoys being part of working with the youth and in the future wants to be able to do workshops for young people which will benefit them and gain something out of. She was really interesting to talk to and made some really interesting points about the idea that the fashion industry itself sets rules in what we as customers wear and the colours that are worn, showing that it is very hard to look unique as the style of clothes are similar in shops and it’s all about power and money and control for the fashion industry. This was a really good point made and shows that some fashion designers on the project try to be unique in what they create, but it seems like it’s a difficult and a challenging process.

The fashion workshop really gave me a insight about how young people try and get involved in projects like this to get heard and noticed by others to get a career in what they want. It also shows the difficult and competitive side to the fashion industry as it’s difficult to be different and unique in the clothing pieces and the amount of hours they put in to create their fashion pieces, but shows that their dedication and drive for what they want to achieve which is good and I hope for the best for the young people and hope they get their dream career as a model or fashion designer. The workshop has also benefittted me as it has really made me think about being a fashion journalist and working with more fashion professionals in the future and learning more about the fashion industry myself.

Talent 2011

Come along to the Talent show 2011 which will involve artistic talent in the categories of dance, singing, fashion designers, rap and modeling; battling it out for the winning title of talent 2011. Hosting this years show is MTV’s very own funny Kat and judges on the night will include 1Xtra founder Ray Paul, Justice Williams MBE and Choreographer to the stars DelMak. It will be held at New Bingley Hall, you can get your tickets at www.visitbirmingham.com/tickets