Last week, LCF hosted its annual Fashion Matters Gala which raises money for scholarships and bursaries for students. Amber Capewell from BA (Hons) Cordwainers Footwear: Product Design and Innovation won last year’s Kurt Geiger BA Paid Placement Scholarship, giving her the opportunity to fund her placement fees, at the prestigious British footwear brand. We spoke to Amber to find out how her award helped her.
My course at LCF… has been really good – it’s been different every year but I think the placement year was definitely the best. First year is good because you learn the basics, in the second year you get to do industry work – we worked with a factory in Italy and with H&M, the third year is placement year and now I’m in my final year.
At the moment… I’m working on my final project which is based on Marrakech. I’m starting my own brand and my own concept for it – it will be brand that gives back. I’m collaborating with another student and the price of the sole of the shoe, is going to go to charity.
Why Marrakech? I was also nominated for a Cordwainers Travel Bursary which I won, so that gave me some money to go towards travelling to a place I had always wanted to go to, and I chose Marrakech. I loved it – it was full of patterns and colour – so much it has given me enough inspiration for the whole year.
I did three placements in my third year... I did my first placement at LK Bennet for six months, then I went to Kurt Geiger which was a scholarship I won, and my last one was with Ted Baker.
In the application process… I had to sumbit my portfolio, CV and cover letter – I heard back from them saying I had won the bursary and paid placement which was really, really, REALLY good. The bursary I used towards my course fees..
The advice I would give to someone who is thinking of applying for an award… is to make sure your portfolio is up to scratch, and that it shows what you’re interested in and a passion for the course. Also make sure your CV is strong enough to demonstrate what you can do.
If it wasn’t for my Fashion Matters bursary… I don’t think I would have been able to do a design placement, which has made it clear to me what I want to do – it really helped me with that. It enhanced my skills and helped me work out the direction I want to go in.
Fashion Matters… because I think it shows who you are – footwear for me says a lot. Everything we wear and everything we do involves fashion and art so it’s something we need – it really matters!
After I finish my course… I’ll hopefully get a job, so I’ll apply to companies I want to work for and get in touch with past internships and hopefully they’ll want me back!
- Find out about BA (Hons) Cordwainers Footwear: Product Design and Innovation
- Follow Amber on Instagram and check out her work on Showtime
- Find out more about Fashion Matters
- Find out more about undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships, bursaries and awards