Art and Design (Fashion and Textiles) students have been getting out of the classroom recently with a number of trips and visits.

50 Art & Design students, mostly from Fashion & Textiles shopped ’til they dropped at dozens of stalls, selling clothes, make-up and accessories at this year’s Clothes Show Live at the Birmingham NEC arena.

The students enjoyed a live catwalk show, featuring upcoming fashion and trends. This was a very good (and very long!) day, thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended.

Lower sixth Fashion & Textiles students have also visited the Manchester City Gallery & the Imperial War Museum North, to conduct some project research. The group had a fantastic day out and got lots of ideas for their current unit of work. The two galleries are very different and were chosen because of their contrasting feels. One very modern architecturally, one quite traditional… internally the city gallery is quite light and airy and in contrast the war museum is dark and a little unnerving. This fitted their “Polarities” brief perfectly!

Workbook image courtesy of AS student Jaria Begum

The work on the left was produced by first year student Jaria Begum after the museum visits.

Jaria commented; “I loved the day we spent at the Galleries! I found it really interesting and inspiring, especially the patterns and the colours of some of the artefacts.”

Fashion and Textiles teacher Michaela Harrison said; ” The students really benefitted from the culturally rich and diverse nature of the 2 central Manchester Galleries, which has led to some lovely responses in the area of art, fashion and textiles.”