TALENTED Fashion and Textiles students at King’s Ely unleashed their creative skills during a masterclass with high profile designer Juliana Sissons.
The group of Year 11 designers participated in the workshop during their visit to London’s prestigious Victoria and Albert Museum, where Juliana, up until recently, was Fashion Designer in Residence.
As a freelance knitwear designer and pattern cutter, Juliana’s clients have included Alexander McQueen, Louis Vuitton, Shelley Fox, Joe Casely-Hayford, Antoni and Alison, and Koji Tatsuno, to name just a few.
The museum excursion saw the pupils carrying out research in the museum’s medieval galleries before taking part in an intense masterclass with Juliana, where they produced stunning sculptural garment designs exploring new methods of construction.
Director of Art at King’s Ely, Alison Rhodes, said: “The Victoria and Albert Museum excursion provided our students with a valuable opportunity to work with a high profile designer. Juliana said that our students were highly skilled, enthusiastic designers and that they worked in a professional manner throughout the day. Their outcomes were extremely inventive showing both strength and determination. It really was a pleasure to see such ambitious work produced and how this is now contributing to the students’ current coursework.”
Juliana also teaches Fashion and Textile Design at Nottingham University, the London College of Fashion and Northbrook College, Sussex. She is also the Pattern Cutting Tutor at the University of Brighton.