Textile design schools: a hotbed of future talent The - Designs - Première Vision Paris
Mindful of the powerful role played by younger generations in tomorrow’s fashion world, Première Vision Designs regularly welcomes to the show a selection of top international schools specialised in textile design and creation, among them Leeds Arts University, London College of Fashion, Northern School of Art, University of Art and Design Linz and Shenkar College.
All the schools agree on the importance of taking part in the show, to give their students a unique opportunity to put their work into context, bring it face to face with the international market and assist their insertion into the professional world of fashion and design.
Founded in 1846, Leeds Arts Universityemphasises teamwork and a cross-disciplinary creative approach to train young designers who are as free-thinking and unconventional as they are operational, fully ready and equipped to work at companies or set up on their own.
Through its three programmes (Print, Knit and Embroidery), the London College of Fashion, founded at the start of the 20th century, invites students to forge their own path by drawing inspiration from both the artisanal techniques of the past and the digital resources of the future.
In an effort to nurture both their students’ creative talent and their entrepreneurial faculties, the University of Art and Design Linz has created Lit, a collective formed by the school’s top students with the twin aim of providing a showcase for young, experimental talent and promoting teamwork. Innovation and experimentation are naturally at the core of their educational programs. Technical skills are thus combined with critical thinking regarding the socio-economic and cultural issues of our time. The Lit collective places critical importance on the matter of sustainability, approaching it as a pivotal issue for a thorough rethinking of fashion production and consumption.
Innovation and sustainability are also key themes at the Northern School of Art. Taking free advantage of embroidery, embellishment and digital printing techniques, students at this English school are constantly challenged to stretch their limits, with a view to proposing new technical and design approaches as well as new methods of responsible production.
Embracing innovation, transdisciplinary studies, entrepreneurship and eco-responsibility, the textile design department of Shenkar College promotes cross-disciplinary methods and technical experimentation. Courses are devoted to specific subjects such as Paralympic sports and the study of polymers, in close collaboration with companies and regular interaction with the school’s engineering department. Encouraged to develop an in-depth knowledge of yarns, fibres and production processes, students at this Israeli school are trained to approach textiles as a tool able to actively reshape users’ lifestyles and well-being, by developing new uses and approaches where creativity and industrial technology are brought together.
Sedef Sena Güler attests to the importance of schools in the training of new generations of textile designers. This young designer, a student at Istanbul Marmara University, will participate in the next edition of Première Vision Paris in recognition of her recent victory in Tukey’s national ATHIB 8 competition / Woven Fabric Design Contest. Thanks to her university, she found the technological resources to realise that nothing is impossible in the textile world, and the support needed to further strengthen her creative identity.
Technical experimentation and stylistic avant-gardism, creative freedom, a critical awareness and entrepreneurial expertise – textile creation and design schools are true hotbeds of talent, young designers who, thanks in part to shows such as Première Vision Paris, forge close ties with the fashion world at all levels of the textile industry, and pave the way for tomorrow’s new dynamics.