Meet BA Fashion Visual Merchandising and Branding student,伦艺上海授权招生代表处微信公众号文章

LCF BA (Hons) Fashion Visual Merchandising and Branding studentEmma Fearn recently collaborated with high-street giant Warehouse on a visual merchandising project that brought an installation of a Northern Irish natural wonder to Argyll Street.

Emma’s window design was inspired by Giant’s Causeway, Ireland’s natural wonder, and features a mixture of materials including copper, plywood and insulating felts. The conceptual design was chosen as the winner by the Visual Merchandising team who felt the window perfectly encapsulated the trends of the brand’s AW15 collection.

BA (Hons) Fashion Visual Merchandising and Branding student Emma Fearne created an installation that draws inspiration from Ireland’s Giant Causeway natural wonder.

As part of the winning prize for the project, Emma joined Warehouse’s Visual Merchandising team in their head office to bring her winning entry to life. She was involved in every stage from the early planning to the overnight execution. Emma also received mentoring from the team throughout her final year and had the opportunity to work across a range of Warehouse projects during her time here.

Can you tell us how the Warehouse x LCF collaboration plan came about, and what does it mean for students and yourself?

The competition was originally part of the brief so we all submitted a concept design project to the Warehouse VM team (Laura & Nathan). In the end it was between Molly, Jillian and myself. The winner was then given an internship at Warehouse HQ and the opportunity to design and install a window during London Fashion Week. These opportunities are fantastic for students because it’s a great way to connect with industry professionals. From this collaboration I’ve gained valuable experience which I think will really help me when I graduate. Gaining experience in visual merchandising is really important as it’s not something you can learn from a textbook, and our tutors work really hard to ensure we are well prepared for when we have to find a job.

LCF has recently collaborated with Warehouse, H&M and Liberty on window displays. What role do students play in the ‘high street’ and why?

I think it’s great for the students as its real live exposure along with CV worthy work experience, however for the brand this experience for them means that they can utilise the students creativity, they are the next generation and full of innovative ideas. These established brands are great because they mentor students, and help to showcase emerging talent. It’s a win win, and hopefully a job for the student too!

Are big brands doing enough to provide pathways into the industry for students?

Personally I feel very lucky to be a part of this whole experience, it’s so exciting! But the opportunity was only for one person, which is a shame as it would have been nice to collaborate with the other students to create a window for Warehouse. It’s very competitive and if you don’t win then you don’t get the experience, but you also have to remember that the VM team has a job to do and mentoring more than a few students would be too much. Hmm it’s tricky, I think that graduate schemes are great, although I don’t know what brands are offering this at the moment. I think that hard work always wins, when you’ve spent hours and hours on a project it shows and employers notice this. Always work hard, if you can’t be bothered then you’re in the wrong industry!

What are your plans for the future?

Although I’m studying visual merchandising I’ve recently been looking into set and exhibition design, from theater to the V&A. I’m hoping to find some work in this area and see where it takes me. In the future I would like to own my own design studio where I can work on freelance creative projects, and maybe do a bit of mentoring too! Who knows, I’m not planning ahead too much.