Knitted Textiles Student Hannah Brabon tells us about the wealth of Industry Experience she has gained this year

During her second year at WSA studying Knitted Textiles for Fashion, Hannah Brabon has managed to gain of wealth of Industry Experience from a combination of Live Projects and Internships, all setting her in excellent stead for her final year.

Here she tells us about her internship with Sophie Steller and her opportunity to go to Shanghai as part of a Live Project with Spinexpo.

“Whilst on work placement at Sophie Steller, I carried out a variety of different studio tasks such as organising fabrics and trimmings, as well as assisting with deliveries. I was also involved with selecting yarn from the extensive collection at the studio, for various trend and colour stories. It was a fantastic opportunity to be able to work with yarn that is of such a high industry standard and improve my awareness of yarn suppliers.

Experiencing working in such a fast paced environment was very exciting as I was able to see projects develop from initial research through to final sampling. I was also lucky enough to be involved in plotting designs on Photoshop for Shima Seiki sampling and embellishing knitted fabrics. I learnt a huge amount from the team of designers in the studio; for example Photoshop techniques and interesting ways of photographing knitted samples.”

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“At the studio I also learnt new techniques on the dubied knitting machines, such as various ways of creating interesting cable designs. It was such a privilege to be able to use the machinery to develop sample ideas for the studio, whilst at the same time developing my skills in the area. I feel very lucky to have been able to experience working in a knitwear design studio, and everything that I have learnt will be so useful for my future studies.”

“During the year, I was also given the opportunity to go to Shanghai in February for the yarn and trend tradeshow ‘Spinexpo’. I had an active role in setting up both the Winchester School of Art display and ‘The Red Room’. It was such a fantastic opportunity to see the work that we created on display and to be able to see how an international tradeshow works. I was able get a further insight into the industry by making contacts with designers, buyers and spinners.”

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“I learnt so much from both of these experiences and have become more confident as a result. It has shown me how important getting industry experience is and how beneficial it can be.”

Woven Textiles Students Work featured at Spinexpo

Final year woven textiles students were selected to showcase their woven samples at Spinexpo as part of a live project with Sophie Steller. The students produced work for two of Sophie Steller’s clients Novetex and Biella.

Dannielle Hutin was awarded a £200 prize for Novetex and Leah Ashton was awarded a £200 prize for Biella. Congratulations!
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Red is the Colour – WSA at Spinexpo, Shanghai

Current second year WSA students on the Knitwear and Woven Textiles pathways had the opportunity to exhibit work at Spinexpo in Shanghai at the beginning of the this month. Two students were selected to go to Shanghai for the duration of the show, Hannah Brabon (Knitwear) and Emma Pedrick (Woven Textiles), who had the opportunity to meet industry experts, gain an insight into the industry as well as the workings of an international trade show.

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Spinexpo and WSA worked together on a project brief where students had to develop concepts around the colour RED.

‘We asked students to be very experimental and broad with their approaches to this theme. The students had the privilege to work with the latest developments in yarns from the exhibitors of the show.” (Helga Matos)

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Winchester School of Art and Nottingham Trent University are the only two education institutions that Spinexpo has chosen to promote. Spinexpo is a global yarn and trend show that takes place in Shanghai (twice a year), Paris and New York. The RED project will now go to the Paris show on the 6th and 7th July 2016. http://www.spinexpo.com

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Students work selected:
Jhonis Zipagan
Alice Bracken
Amy Fuller
Anna Bateman
Charlotte Lovell
Hannah Brabon
Isabel Worth
Katy Breeching
Sam Wood
Emma Pedrick
Grace Carter
Rebecca Lickley
Rebecca Glanvill
Isabella Bishop
Danielle Gill
Amy Nguyen
Mollie Croft
Rebecca Moore