By Ana Gonzales Flores
Behind the glamour of fashion runways and major designer labels are emerging creatives developing their own styles, inspirations and ideas for the future.
At TAFE NSW’s Fashion Design department at Lidcombe, students from Certificate II through to Diploma are developing their skills while bringing personal experiences and influences into their designs.
As part of Try TAFE, eight students participated in a video project exploring their approach to fashion through questions about their inspirations, design styles, fashion opinions and dreams.
For Riahne, fashion provides an opportunity to explore gender and identity. They believe the fashion industry has taken time to become more accepting of queer influences in design and clothing.
“I focus a lot more on gender and gender identity and how that can be different for all sorts of people,” they said when describing their design style.
For Sobhan, also known as Sabrina, fashion is connected to her Afghan heritage. While she only appeared briefly in the video to introduce herself, she spoke about incorporating traditional Afghan clothing, patterns and heritage into her approach to design.
Other students are using fashion to develop existing careers and businesses.
Jude began studying Fashion Design to better understand her own clothing business.
“I have a clothing line called Citizen Outlier … and the stock I get for my store inspired me to get involved in making clothes and designing,” she said.
Her interests include innovation, technology and avant-garde fashion.
For Rahma, fashion is more personal. Her dream is to design something for her mother that makes her feel both comfortable and stylish.
Sangialata also identified family as an inspiration, saying her fashion dream would be to design something for her son.
For Soumaya and Kylie, however, their primary inspiration is themselves. Soumaya focuses on modest fashion, while Kylie describes her style as “groovy” and “wavy”.
Kylie, who is over 50 and lives with a disability, hopes her designs could also connect with others who share similar experiences.
For her, success would be less about becoming a famous designer and more about seeing people recognise and enjoy her work.
“It would be cool if people go, ‘Ooh, that’s a Kylie D, thanks!’” she said.
The students’ responses highlight the different motivations behind studying Fashion Design at TAFE NSW. For some, it is a pathway to a career or business, while for others it provides a way to explore identity, heritage, family and personal expression.
Across different levels of study, the students demonstrate that fashion is not simply about what appears on the runway. For these emerging designers, it is also a way to tell stories, represent communities and create clothing that reflects who they are.
Featured image: Fashion Design students (from left): Sobhan/Sabrina, Soumaya, Riahne, Sangialata, Rahma, Kylie, and Jude. Photo: Ana Gonzales Flores
Listen to this story and much more by catching the Try TAFE Day show which will stream on TAFE Radio from 10am to 3pm today, September 10.