Do you want to enhance your craft skills overseas? Craft Victoria and International Specialised Skills Institute (ISS Institute) present a session for fashion and accessory designers on gaining skills and experience via international fellowships. Speakers include current fellow and Melbourne fashion designer Patricia Chircop, who will discuss her upcoming research on single-piece woollen garment making with industrial knitting machines in Japan and Europe. Several past fellows, including bespoke shoemaker April Phillips and clothing designer Kate Kennedy, will also share their individual experiences and reflect on how they have contributed to Australian fashion design knowledge. The CEO of ISS Institute, Jeremy Irvine, will run through the application guidelines for 2011 fellowships. Part of the Cultural Program for the 2011 L'Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival.
Date: Monday 7 March, 6-8pm. Also on this night: Martha McDonald Performance
Venue: Craft Victoria, 31 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Bookings: SOLD OUT - Call to register for the waiting list 03 9650 7775
Cost: $20 / $10 Craft Victoria Members
Presenters:
Patricia Chircop
Patricia Chircop is a fashion designer and small business owner, who was awarded a George Alexander Foundation / ISS Institute International Fellowship in 2010. Patricia will be travelling to Europe and Japan in 2011 to research whole garment knitwear and investigate its development and application for the Australian textiles sector. Patricia's research will focus on gaining technical knowledge of industrial knitting machines in order to be able to consult for fashion-based companies on design, manufacturing and costings. She will also consider the challenges for Australian designers to understand limitations and abilities of knitting by reducing manufacturing cost and enhancing design understanding of knitwear.
April Phillips
April Phillips travelled to London as part of her ISS Institute Overseas Travelling Fellowship to become skilled in the various decorative processes and surface treatments associated with the production of leather products. She also focused on the different stages of leather production. April has operated and managed her own business in custom-made footwear and has acted as a consultant to the fashion industry regarding leather apparel and footwear. She has been the recipient of grants and internships relating to emerging artist initiatives, circus costume design and shoe collections, including the Craft Victoria Emerging Artist Initiative in 2008. She has also exhibited her work at both solo and group exhibitions in Melbourne, Victoria.
Kate Kennedy
Kate Kennedy travelled to London, Paris, America and Germany as part her National ISS Institute Overseas Fellowship to become skilled in various three dimensional body scanning techniques and their applications for the Australian apparel industry. Throughout her career in the apparel industry Kate has specialised in product design, development and technical management in the preproduction supply chain. Her work has also encompassed theatrical costuming, the design and manufacture of her own swimwear label, and teaching fashion and design at a technical and tertiary level. She has also pursued her interests in creative textiles by weaving organza with metallic mesh in assemblages that draw inspiration from pixels, watercolour and chaos theory.
ISS Institute
The International Specialised Skills Institute Inc is an independent, national organisation that for over two decades has worked with Australian governments, industry and education institutions to enable individuals to gain enhanced skills and experience in traditional trades, professions and leading-edge technologies. At the heart of the Institute are the Fellows. Under the Overseas Applied Research Fellowship Program, Fellows travel overseas. Upon their return, they are required to pass on what they have learnt by:
1. Preparing a detailed report for distribution to government departments, industry and educational institutions.
2. Recommending improvements to accredited educational courses.
3. Delivering training activities including workshops, conferences and forums.
