I don't think I mentioned it on here (I know I certainly tweeted about it a lot) but this week I spent three days doing a short course on Fashion Journalism at the London College of Fashion. It was such an eye-opening experience and one I won't ever forget. We were taught by a freelance journalist so we knew we were getting first-hand experience of what real life behind the glossy covers of magazines is really like, and that the information we were getting bombarded with was sure to be invaluable.
After arriving forty minutes early at the Lime Grove branch of the university, me and 11 other nervous girls were eventually led upstairs to the room where, over the next three days, we would be promised to be turned into fabulous young journalists. We spent the morning getting to know one another and finding out what the course would entail. I was amazed at how far some people had travelled just to be on this course - from as far as Brighton to Ireland, even Italy and Ukraine. Us Londoners were in the minority! We then spent some time getting to grips with some key knowledge of the fashion and journalism industries.
After our lunch break we were already being sent out on a field trip to Westfield White City shopping centre, which is literally a two minute walk from the uni - it's always a bonus to have Europe's second largest shopping mall a stone's throw away from where you study! Our task was to find a trend either within the stores, the street style, the shop fittings - basically anything goes as long as it was fashion-related and a story could be made out of it. It was a struggle for all of us to be walking around Westfield yet not being allowed to shop, but eventually we decided that our story would be based on the Olympic spirit (or lack of it) around the mall.
Our second day saw us present and write up the trend story we had found the day before to our tutor, and may I add, I think she loved our idea! Then for the afternoon another trip, this time to Coppernob design studios, situated just behind Urban Outfitters on Oxford Street. We got to have a snoop around the showroom and design studio before interviewing the design director on subjects like her work process and sustainability. By chance the CEO and owner or Coppernob was in the building whilst we were visiting so we also got to have an extremely intriguing interview with him, a man who can only be described as a 'typical fashion character', in other words, a very eccentric and passionate man indeed!
After all our trips out (which did involve some light shopping, of course!), the third and final day was a lot more educational based. A day spent in the classroom having discussions about everything and anything, from our favourite item of fashion to what makes for an unforgettable style icon.
I was absolutely nerve-wracked before I started the course, what with knowing about the intimidating yet prestigious reputation LCF hold, however it was all for no reason as the tutor was unbelievably nice, and I met some fabulously interesting girls from all over the place who I sincerely hope to stay friends with as we would never have had the chance to meet each other without this course bringing us together. With the course spanning from writing styles to branding and advertising, fashion icons to interview techniques, I'm certain we have all taken something different away from the course, and I hope an improvement in my writing will be somewhat noticeable!
My next few posts will probably be quite article-based as I will be writing up some of the stories we concocted over the past week, but I hope these will still be of interest to everyone as they will generally be quite short and light-hearted pieces. On another COMING SOON note, I have a review of a Prairie Charms bracelet about to hit your screens soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that within the next few days as it's a real beauty.
Keep smiling x
