Designing a collection for Zara
During London Fashion Week Chelsea BA Textile Design students produced a collaborative collection with Zara kidswear VIEW.S.
, Chelsea College of Arts, UAL
The brief
In 2018 Zara Kids approached BA Textile Design at Chelsea College of Arts asking them to create a number of design concepts that could be produced for their Spring/Summer 2019 collection. The competition was aimed at encouraging students to understand their personal position in relation to being a designer in a professional project environment.
Students worked individually on their own designs, with selected finalists working as a team to develop the final capsule collection that was presented to the Zara Kids design team. The project also included a visit to the Zara HQ in Madrid in November 2018, with the winning students getting to see their designs being put into production.
, Chelsea College of Arts, UAL
“The trip was fantastic and the students definitely got a great deal out of it – the sheer experience of going to a place like that, in terms of seeing their work developed into product and having it contextualised in that way. They were very excited and quite taken aback at the realisation of just quite how big a deal this opportunity is for them and their future careers.” Jane Murrow, Course Leader, BA Textile Design.
From the BA Textile Design students 5 were selected to produce a new special collection for Zara Kids. They were Sophia Willcox, Peng Cui, Maria Appleton, Ella Dallaglio and Zhenyuan Jia. Their collaborative collection focused on being free from prejudice or preconceived ideas, with its' starting point, a poem that the students wrote at the beginning of the project.
The collection was launched at a live press presentation and art workshop on 20 February, during London Fashion Week at the Zara Showroom in London. The session featured a Q&A with the student designers and a workshop ran by the students, in which attendees got the opportunity to create artwork inspired by the collection. The students also got the opportunity to present the collection at Zara’s Kings Road London store, from which it will be sold.