Toybox or Toolbox: Is Fashion Education Merely an Expensive Hobby?

The chasm between Fashion education, and the Fashion industry is expanding: recent articles indicate that current qualifications aren’t preparing graduates for the real requirements of the Fashion industry. Historically, education and industry were both bound as one area, and relied on strong pattern cutting and technical skills , (which were readily available , then but not now) to drive design and progress forward. In recent years, changes in education, , the industry, social and technological drives, have encouraged students and graduates to specialize in aesthetic areas and in many cases to abandon more technically challenging content. This study is part empirical, part explorative and considers previous enquiries in the context of how Fashion Education could better serve the needs of the industry and the student. Students, educationalists, retailers, pattern makers, designers and consumers will all be considered as we seek to open up the size and depth of the problem; is Fashion Education offering merely a proverbial toy box to students, or can graduates still leave education with a brimming toolbox ready to work?