Diversity & The Strong Woman – Edward Enninful Visits CNC London
An exciting start to the Vogue Fashion Certificate course with a visit from Vogue’s new Editor-In-Cheif, Edward Enninful and a trip to the Fashion & Textile Museum, student, Sally Erickson from Australia recounts her first week at Condé Nast College of Fashion.
After a whirlwind few days, an overwhelming amount of information – modules, websites, terminology, and assignments, as well as new faces along with their names to remember (I have the ability to forget a name as soon as I’ve just heard it), Thursday couldn’t arrive fast enough. A chance to catch my breath and start the day with an Industry Speaker.
But not just any industry speaker! This guest speaker was on another level. As soon as I walked through the door, I could sense the excitement in the air as everyone – staff, students and industry, awaited the arrival of the recently anointed British Vogue Editor-in-Chief, and renowned stylist, Edward Enninful.
Edward Enninful has been creating waves in the industry since starting his career as a model, but in more recent times, it’s his appointment to the British Vogue that has garnered him a fair amount of attention – not just from the Fashion Industry, but also from the everyday person. While I found the Q&A style discussion to be fascinating, it was listening to Edward discuss the new direction of British Vogue that really stood out for me; with this new direction representing what I believe 2018 is all about: diversity and the strong woman.
Vogue, and underrepresented people of gender, religion and race, are on the move, and will become the faces of change, and a true representation of the world we live in today.
And it was on that note that we moved onto the Fashion & Textile Museum to view the ‘Louise Dahl-Wolfe: A Style of Her Own’, exhibition. Ms Dahl-Wolfe was a fashion photographer with a long-standing working relationship with Harper’s Bazaar. She is credited with 600 published pieces, and is recognised for her still life and portraiture photography of the people of Nashville, TN, during the Great Depression, as well as Hollywood. An inspiring woman who trod the career path so-dominated by men, and a truly fitting exhibition to continue the theme of the day.
Believe it or not, we also managed to squeeze in a causal lunch which was very much appreciated, along with a flying visit to the Design Museum.
While taking in each exhibition that makes up the ‘Beazley Designs of the Year’, which tied in perfectly with the lecture we received earlier in the week from The Wired World in 2018 Editor David Baker, it was one design that stood out for me.
Image by Mary Clair Donnelly
It’s here that I met Graham, the only person designed to survive a car crash. Developed in my home country – Australia, Graham’s purpose is to demonstrate how our bodies need to evolve in-order-to survive traffic accidents.
The Beazley Designs of the Year, Graham, and David’s lecture on the ‘future’ were all thoroughly interesting, if not a little scary.
Image by Mary Clair Donnelly
All in all, I’ve had a very inspiring week, and I am excited for the next nine weeks, and everything in between.