Eleanor is now working in Paris, the fashion capital, following her Fashion BA at Middlesex University. She gives us an insight into how the course made her fashion dreams a reality…

Name: Eleanor Irving
Institution: Middlesex University
Course: Fashion BA (Hons)

I thought that if I wanted to pursue fashion as a career choice then a BA would provide me with solid groundings in all the technical skills I would need, and would also allow me to develop my design aesthetic. I chose Middlesex as there is great focus on creativity, but there is also an emphasis on becoming a technically astute student as well. They give a good all-round education that I think really prepares you for working within the fashion industry.
 
Experience of a practical fashion course is very different to studying a theoretical course such as English. It is almost a vocational course and becomes a lifestyle that you have to embrace to be successful; you cannot just spend time in lectures and forget about the work when you go home. It’s a lot of work, but the satisfaction of realising your ideas from paper into fabric is very rewarding. Middlesex is great, as all of the art and design courses are on the same campus, which means there is a really creative atmosphere to work in. It also generates a community of students from different disciplines.

I am now working in Paris and in the future, I plan to complete an MA in fashion design. I think the technical skills that I have learnt will be the most valuable to me; being able to understand how a pattern is cut or a garment is put together definitely makes you a better designer. I also think that the work experience module and all the opportunities that are available to work within the industry during the course are important – they give an invaluable insight into how the industry really works, which is really helpful when graduates come to get a job.