Tutor Feedback
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This presentation gently provokes and questions the prevailing paradigms associated with the framework through which we view and receive fashion. It is very relevant if the fashion systmem is to evlove
Jinny Stephen Cran, Head of Department Fashion and Textiles - Glasgow School of Art
The BA ( Hons) Fashion Studies Course here at the Arts University College has been a supporter of the All Walks philosophy for over 2 years. We have had the opportunity to rewrite the Course Curriculum and make ” All Walks” integral to the content of what we do. This year has been our most successful with a ‘ LIVE Project’ which will conclude with a professional photo shoot working with mature model Valerie Pain.
The students are truly engaged with the opportunity to question existing practices in the Fashion Industry and to celebrate beauty in all it’s forms. It’s now much more than them having ‘ permission’ to design for a more diverse market… they are choosing to lead the way with confidence and commitment.
Finally, the All Walks philosophy is not a trend or passing phase, be sure it is here for good!’
Anne Chaisty, Course Leader, Womenswear - Arts University College, Bournemouth
This was one of the best lectures that I have ever heard. Caryn and her colleagues Debra Bourne and Erin O’Connor are all highly respected professionals in the fashion industry, and what was particularly inspiring about Caryn was the ease with which she moved from design, to image-making, to marketing and advertising and extending all beyond the conventional remit into the broader area of culture - and the way we are presented and the way we see ourselves.
It is sadly all too rare for fashion students now to look into the specifics of representation and the language that it can speak. Her exploration of body image, size, age and colour, each intelligently illustrated with images, connected with the students in a way that they have not experienced before. Rather than working within the framework of received opinions, Caryn encouraged the students to challenge them, to find their own voice and to change the status quo. Open-minded, fair and brilliantly controversial, All Walks Beyond the Catwalk should be prescribed not only to students but many players in the fashion industry, many of whom who are lazy, unoriginal and sticking to the eternal bottom-line in terms of sizing, imagery, colour and age. The last person to challenge this in the fashion world was Lee Alexander McQueen, who constantly questioned conventional ideas of beauty. He won British Designer of the Year three times …
Judith Watt, Course Director, MA Fashion Journalism - Kingston University Design School
The UCA Fashion Journalism students were so inspired by the All Walks project, they’re already planning to take the campaign to LFW later this year, and want to continue to promote diversity online. They even mentioned the possibility of going into schools to talk to younger girls about the pressures they face.
Students today live in a very diverse society, they want to see that reflected on the catwalks and on the pages of glossy fashion magazines. The narrow perspective they’re given doesn’t represent their reality.
Working with Mal Burkinshaw and his Fashion Design students at the All Walks Centre for Diversity was such a positive, rewarding experience. Mal has some excellent ideas - I would love to create a Language Lab at UCA and really get the journalism students to think about the words we use to describe the female body, what’s acceptable and what’s not.
Alyson Walsh, Senior Lecturer Fashion Journalism - UCA Epsom
The new figure for fashion is defiantly emerging from Plymouth College of Art fashion degree students. As models are beginning to have fittings and toiles are getting adjusted the impact from All Walks Beyond the Catwalk lecture is becoming a reality. Models of all sizes, shapes and colours will be showcasing the student collections this summer and finally designing for actual people has become a reality. Thanks Caryn for helping us break them break the stereo typing moulds and templates.
Brigitte Stockton, HEFashion Programme Leader - Plymouth College of Art
The benefits of All Walks can only be truly appreciated by taking part. Caryn and Debra are both inspirational and well informed speakers who energise the students. We are currently putting the finishing touches to the website and films we have been inspired to make to promote the work of All Walks as part of our LIVE project. I would encourage all institutions to take part.
Iain Bromley, BA Fashion Promotion Pathway Tutor -Ravensbourne
Many thanks again for the brilliant lecture it has made a huge impact on student thinking!!!
Fashion design students at Leeds enthusiastically embraced the initiative by “All Walks Beyond The Catwalk” during an extra curriculum styling project for the launch of the M&S Company Archive in March 2012. Students groups were provided with £100 to purchase vintage M&S garments and accessories from eBay or charity shops.
Acknowledging the All Walks Beyond The Catwalk, initiative, final year students sourced a ‘real person’ to model in the photoshoot. Models age ranged from 20 to 86 and in a variety of sizes. Students also worked in partnership with the creative team from Vidal Sassoon, Leeds, to create the hair styles for the shoot.
Final year fashion students at Leeds University are also planning the end of year show in June and are casting a diverse range of “real people and models”.
David Backhouse M Des RCA, Fashion Design Programme Leader -School of Design University of Leeds
The problems ‘All Walks’ is trying to address are so fundamental to the Fashion Industry. For our students – who are up and coming designers and fashion promoters - to be informed, educated and enlightened about this issue is essential as it takes something like this All Walks initiative, to initiate a sea change.
Matthew Gill, Lecturer in Fashion, Management, Marketing and Communication - Nottingham University
Caryn gave our students an inspirational presentation of the All Walks campaign today. There will be much discussion in Hartlepool for the next few weeks as students start working on their linked projects. Our students came away highly motivated and Caryn empowered them as the next generation of designers to act to change the beauty ideal. What a fantastic start to a project. Thank you.
Lynne Hugill - Cleveland College of Art & Design
It is rare to see a full lecture theatre so thoroughly engrossed!
This was a topical and thought-provoking talk, which had the students buzzing as they left the room.They continued to discuss and debate for days afterwards.
Karen Cross Course, Leader BA (Hons) Fashion Management - The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen