Fashion Students Travel Abroad to London, England

The Fashion Study Abroad course (ARTX 345), offered in the Spring semester for students in the Fashion Design and Merchandising majors; or Fashion Merchandising minors; or Fashion Design minors; or departmental approval, is a course where class members study key locations of the fashion industry and travel abroad to that location during Spring break.

This Spring, 16 students led by 2 Fashion faculty went to London, England with the mission to contextualize and analyze the business, history, and culture of London fashion in contexts across a historical arc to the present day.

In partnership with the Study Abroad Association (SAA) and Montclair State University’s department of International Academic Initiatives, the Fashion students and faculty leaders couldn’t have been in better hands! The SAA host (Julie Chandler) won the hearts of the students with her knowledge of the history of London showing sites such as Big Ben and Buckingham Palace as well as London’s high-end shopping centers on Saville Row and Bond Street to shops on Regent and Oxford Streets. The highlight for the students was the 2 presentations (one on inclusive fashion and the other on sustainable fashion) given by Caroline Ash, director of Fashion Enter. Fashion Enter is a not-for-profit, social enterprise, which strives to be a center of excellence for sampling, grading, production, and for learning and developing skills within the fashion and textiles industry.

The other exciting visit for the students was to the Fashion and Textile Museum showing American-born Kaffe Fassett’s collection, known for his colorful designs in the decorative arts.

The students not only return to class to reflect on their experience but yearn to return to London once again.

Itinerary:

• Day 1: Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, Victoria & Albert Museum
• Day 2: British Museum, Saville Row Men’s Tailoring Shops, Fortnum and Mason
• Day 3: Fashion Enter (A London-based manufacturer based on sustainability and inclusivity). There, we saw pattern making and sewing production, along with shopping at Old Spitalfields Market and Harrods
• Day 4: Kaffe Fassett exhibition at the Textile Museum, and a Thames River cruise to Greewich
• Day 5: Shopping: Dover Street Market/Oxford and Regent Streets, Liberty, Marks and Spencer, and John Lewis.
• Day 6: Fashion Enter (again) but this time for a sustainability conversation including viewing printers that can print one off patterns to be cut and sewn to customers’ specs. Camden Market and evening meal together for the last night.