London Fashion Academy Is Serious About Its Mission To Establish The Next Wave Of UK-Based Fashion Designers
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By PAGE Editor
London Fashion Academy sets itself apart from other educational institutions by offering higher education with mentorship and practice-based learning, London Fashion Week Show, and retail opportunities as its core. The JCA is determined to create the next wave of fashion designers by consciously supporting their businesses from the day they arrive at 20 Hanover Square.
Regarded as ‘revolutionary’ by government ministers and ‘design trailblazers’ by industry commentators, the Academy has been built with one sole purpose: to support and accelerate emerging designer entrepreneurs in the ultra-competitive world of fashion. To do so, the school tailors the learning of each individual to the discipline they are interested in rather than offering a homogenous curriculum to a large number of students.
Courses are designed to follow a professional workflow and help each designer build and launch their brand, design and make beautiful collections, commercialize their work and engage with customers through its own permanent Mayfair store, run by the designers’ collective.
Only one year after its opening, the school has already seen some of its first cohort of students launching their brands and presenting them to the world. An example of this is the success of Melissa-Kate, who was invited to present her collection at the inaugural Northern Fashion Week back in July and is up for three awards, including best designer, and the stories of Annabelle Barton, Maryam Orchid, Noon Khouri and Sophie Park, who will present their debut collections in the JCA x Patrick McDowell x MA Show and Party on the 19th of September.
As part of their program at the JCA, the students have access to a variety of mentors, including Prof. Jimmy Choo himself, unfettered access to professional atelier workshops and resources that do not usually come with learning, such as a dedicated PR team that are commercially focused to support each designer entrepreneur.
In the past few months, the Academy’s Master Students have been preparing for London Fashion Week, having convinced organizers to have a spot on the British Fashion Council’s event schedule. Having all-important support and funding given by the Academy in order to showcase its upcoming talent is at the heart of the JCA’s vision.
After helping its students develop their design craft, and entrepreneurial mindset, and launching them at the world-renowned platform that is London Fashion Week, the fashion entrepreneurs will get to sell their products at the Academy’s soon-to-open Mayfair store, situated alongside the world-famous Bond Street.
Whilst most of the £18k course fees can be paid through the government-owned Student Loans Company, Stephen Smith, CEO of the JCA, says ‘we encourage our learners to think like entrepreneurs from the outset. Don’t see the loan as funding your postgraduate qualification; instead, see this as an investment in you and your creative enterprise. By joining our Masters' program we will be supporting you to launch your brand with a commercial product that you have designed.
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