Smriti – Fashion & Textiles

I always knew that I wanted to go to Central St Martins. I had to do a foundation degree to go onto university, and doing this course helped me to get on to the foundation degree.  

At college I learnt the fundamentals, like pattern cutting, textiles and photography, which I still use now to create my work. I knew a little bit about how to sew, but you didn’t need to know this to start the course.  

They really teach you from the beginning basic sewing, pattern cutting and drafting, photography and how to set up a shoot. They also teach you the more digital side of things, such as digital illustration, and fashion history. I still use all of these to this day. We got to try out new techniques and see different aspects of the fashion industry. It gave me an opportunity to try out different specialisms and figure out which one I wanted to specialise in. 

The best parts of studying at Farnborough were that it was close to where I live, the library was really good and there is a small number of people in your class, so you get more time with tutors. As the course just focuses on fashion and textiles it means it is a more direct route whereas if you were doing A Levels you would have to spread yourself more thinly.  

During the course we got to help out backstage at Top Model. It was a great opportunity to see the garments close-up and get an idea of what you could be doing after college and university. We also had the opportunity to show our own garments at the show which was great.  

I’m studying Fashion Knitwear at the moment which I hope to pursue in the future.