North Hertfordshire College’s Fashion students have collaborated with local children’s clothing company Tutti Frutti on an exciting sustainable fashion brief!
This was a great opportunity for our learners to interact with an established independent fashion brand and learn more about supply chains and fashion designs for a specific market. The project allowed them to focus on baby and children’s clothing, thinking about how eco-conscious design could work for bodies that grow and change very quickly.
The collaboration benefitted Tutti Frutti too – they were able to network and consult with young people interested in careers in the textile and fashion design sector to find out more about what they value.
To kick the project off, Tutti Frutti’s business owner Ali visited our learners to discuss the origins of her company. Ali’s journey began as a solo business that sold clothes online, but she’s now grown Tutti Frutti to include a physical store and an extra employee who supports the manufacture of their hand-made garments. She also shared some key insights into children’s fashion design, branding, and marketing to help our learners start creating their ideas.
Our learners had lots of questions to ask Ali about their design brief, as they needed to work towards Ali’s core business principle – making bold clothes for kids that put people and the planet first.
Each student was challenged with creating a portfolio of research, testing development treatments, and designing prints to use on fabric, ready to pitch to Ali in a few days’ time. Some of the topics our budding fashion designers learnt about included how to apply zero-waste cutting techniques to childrenswear design and manufacture; ethical decision-making about materials and suppliers; print design and development; and how environmental responsibility can be included into a business’ core principles – not an easy task, but definitely a rewarding one.
We’re pleased to say that the project went down very well with our learners, who enjoyed presenting their ideas and thinking about this market. Jaime-Lea, Level 3 Fashion student at North Hertfordshire College, told us: “The work experience week with Tutti Frutti gave me a good experience with creating a fully designed print. It helped put me in the mindset of designing for a real garment.”
Tutti Frutti owner Ali was also pleased with the results of the project. She commented: “Thank you so much for allowing me to be part of your work experience projects. It was really great to see the thought process emerge throughout all the presentations. I loved seeing all the students’ final designs and chatting with them about what they found hard and what they enjoyed.”
Thank you to Ali and Tutti Frutti for helping our learners to develop their skills and build their portfolio!
Could your organisation help to Give a Future to our students? Find out more about how your business can get involved with the next generation by visiting North Hertfordshire College’s Give a Future campaign page.