Students learn about New York fashion and beauty

Students from a range of fashion and beauty courses experienced New York culture during a five-day trip last week.

As well as seeing the usual tourist attractions such as Times Square, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, second and third-year students were given presentations by managers within top fashion and marketing companies in the city.

Chloe Evans, in her second year studying BA (Hons) Fashion Buying and Merchandising, says: “We met with WGSN, which for me was a real opportunity as this is the company I’m aspiring to work for, and where I’m currently interning in their London head office.

“The fact Solent had managed to organise a meeting with them was just amazing and it has fully cemented my desire to follow the same career path.”

Students heard presentations from one of the creative directors and the head creative director of JC Penney, the sales director of WGSN, and managers from RO Marketing before touring the companies’ offices and workrooms.

Second-year BA (Hons) Fashion student Nikita Abbot says: “At WGSN we heard about trends coming out in summer 2020, and it was so nice to see where ideas come from – nothing is ever random!

“As well as New York being one of the best places I’ve ever been to, the trip was so inspiring and has given me some ideas for my final major project and dissertation next year.”

Overall, 48 students from BA (Hons) Make-up and Hair Design, BA (Hons) Beauty Promotion, BA (Hons) Fashion Styling and Creative Direction, BA (Hons) Fashion Buying and Merchandising, BA (Hons) Fashion Photography and BA (Hons) Fashion attended the trip, which takes place either in Paris or different areas of the United States every January.

Lottie Davies, technical instructor and one of the organisers of the trip, says: “Trips are a great opportunity for students to bond and interact with the teaching staff and students from different courses. This allows new relationships to develop within the courses, leading to collaboration in students’ studies as well as their personal lives.”