BA (Hons)
WRITING Fashion & Culture
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WELCOME W
e’re really proud of our Writing Fashion & Culture graduates. Most joined us wanting to be fashion writers for a glossy magazine but it’s exciting to see how, over the course of the three years, interests and career ambitions have changed. Students opted for options that opened their eyes to different parts of the publishing and media industry; core units have covered subjects that ignited a spark that has ultimately led to successful careers. As such, we now have graduates working in all aspects of industry: from editorial writing to
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magazine design; from fashion styling to PR; from photography to production; from media hubs to museums. We have graduates working all around the country, and all around the world. This publication gives an overview of the achievements of just some of our graduates. Their success is testament to the enthusiasm they showed during their Writing Fashion & Culture experience.
Sarah Cooper Course leader, BA(Hons) Writing Fashion & Culture
Sarah Kwong Shannon Kovacs Hannah Eichler Vanessa Sowerby Camilla Treharne Claire Smith Holly Pike Alice Scott James Samuel-Camps Ethanie Robertson
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I have my own blog on the Cosmopolitan website, which is a big honour. One day I’ll be interviewing a psychologist about sex, the next I’ll be writing a feature about careers
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SARAH
KWONG 2
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riting for Cosmopolitan magazine was just a far-flung dream when I started university, so I can’t believe that it’s my reality now. When I began the Writing Fashion & Culture course, I knew exactly what I wanted to do, but I also knew that I needed to learn more about journalism on the whole, to get there. Alongside encouraging me to gain work experience in the industry, my tutors helped me to hone my writing skills and techniques, and broadened my knowledge of everything from costume history to web publishing. Without these skills and the knowledge shared, I wouldn’t know nearly enough about journalism, fashion and both industries. I have ambition in abundance, but working with the lecturers and my classmates really pushed my potential and my drive. It was amazing to receive help from people who had so
much experience. I’m now the full-time features intern at Cosmopolitan, which means I sit at the features desk with the team and have a whole array of responsibilities. I have my own pages in every issue, which means that I get to write regular features, help the team with pieces they’re working on, oversee people on work experience, and generally help out with other tasks. I also have my own blog on the Cosmopolitan website, which is a big honour. One day I’ll be interviewing a psychologist about sex, and the next I’ll be writing a feature about careers. My time on the Writing Fashion & Culture course set me up for industry, and all of those notes and lessons I never thought I’d need became invaluable to me and my career. Studying WFC gave me skills, confidence and memories that will stay with me.
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I wouldn’t be here now if I hadn’t chosen Writing Fashion & Culture. It was an incredible three years and the tutors are wonderful.
SHANNON
KOVACS 4
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am a publishing assistant for the website MyStreetChic.com which is part of the Horizon New Media Group. My job involves writing fashion articles, keeping up to date with the latest trends, attending events, planning fashion shows (we recently did one with Boohoo.com) and liaising with the media. I absolutely love my job and it’s amazing doing something that I have a real passion for each day. Completing my degree in Writing Fashion and Culture definitely taught me valuable skills about the fashion industry. The tutors were fantastic and thanks to their journalistic background you really were given the best advice in how to further your career in fashion. My writing improved thanks to their guidance and I learnt everything from online journal-
ism (which is the field I am working in now), interviewing subjects and implementing fashion PR campaigns. The most important thing I learnt throughout my three years at University was to complete as many work placements as possible. It’s a tough industry, but the more you prove yourself and show that you are willing to work hard, people will remember you and it will pay off. I got my dream job through a placement and they invited me back for an interview and the rest is history. I wouldn’t be here now if I hadn’t chosen Writing Fashion and Culture. It was an incredible three years and the tutors are wonderful. It just goes to show hard work, lots of tea making and a real enthusiasm for writing does result in a career which is exciting, fast paced and a lot of fun.
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The course was so varied, and I got to experience lots of different aspects of the fashion industry.
HANNAH
EICHLER 6
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have been working at LOOK Magazine as a fashion assistant for just over two years, and before that worked as style assistant at The London Paper. My main responsibilities are writing and styling High Street Catwalk, compiling Accessory Addict, writing daily stories for look.co.uk, compiling the weekly High Street Hottest Gallery for look. co.uk, assisting on main fashion shoots and managing our interns. My time at Solent really prepared me for industry. I use many of the skills I learnt from my degree in working life – from the styling skills, to writing styles, to using InDesign and Photoshop. I even use CMS skills, despite that module being my least enjoyable. The tutors at Solent treated me as an individual and it was great
that I could book tutorials to help me with my work – especially when I’d finished my dissertation and wanted some tips on what to do after graduating. I found the tutors really approachable and the fact they all worked within the industry and instilled my trust in them that they knew what they were talking about! I also interned loads – mainly at Easter and summer but whatever I could get, I did. I interned at Glamour, Elleuk.com, More, Reveal, Drapers, and from them I managed to get paid freelance assistant jobs at Stella McCartney, Marks & Spencer, Elleuk.com, Channel 5, GMTV as well as assisting various stylists on shoots. These all helped me form a good idea of how each magazine worked and which environments I preferred working in.
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VANESSA
SOWERBY I
enjoyed every minute of studying Writing Fashion & Culture. Yes, there has been a lot of hard work over the three years, but the content of this course has never ceased to fascinate me, it encouraged my passion for fashion. My favourite thing about my course is the diversity of different subjects within it. Designed and lectured by real journal-
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ists with hands-on experience from within the fashion and journalism industry, the course focuses on teaching subjects that would be of real use to you in the industry once you are out of university. Making magazines, styling and photography are just some of the options that you can get lost in, whilst using the latest state-ofthe-art programmes
and equipment. I’ve picked up so many skills during my time at uni and surprised myself with some of the things I’ve learned, such as the technical side of photography. This course will teach you the things that you need to know about journalism, such as different styles and platforms of writing but it also allows you to work creatively.
I love being creative and this course gave me the opportunity to devise my own styling projects and photo shoots, skills that I will carry with me forever in life. If you love fashion, are eager to learn about journalism, have a thirst for creativity and are serious about pursuing a career in the media, this is the course for you.
This course gave me the opportunity to devise my own styling projects and photo shoots, skills that I will carry with me forever in life.
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I came to Solent hoping to become a journalist and I left already on my way to becoming a fashion photographer with my own clients and portfolio.
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CAMILLA
TREHARNE
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A
s soon as I read the description of the Writing Fashion & Culture course I knew it was for me. I didn’t even know where Southampton was but no other course interested me. We learnt so many different skills in such a variety of areas in the fashion industry that not one person left and went into the same career. All the tutors have many years experience which made you want to learn from them. The range of skills I learnt on the course from writing, PR, styling, web
design, fashion theory and most importantly photography have thoroughly prepared me for my career. I left university and worked freelance before getting a job at a popular high-end retailer as the creative photography co-ordinator where I organized and shot all their lookbooks and did all the creative photography for the e-Commerce department. The skills I learnt in the styling and photography units were invaluable here, even more so the fact I was able to build so many contacts in the
industry, that I could use daily in my career. I now work for a luxury footwear brand where I have a huge impact in the brand’s creative identity and have used knowledge I learnt from a lot of the other units like PR and web. Writing Fashion & Culture gave me the confidence, knowledge and motivation to succeed within the fashion industry and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who wants to work in Fashion but is unsure of which area to specialise in.
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I
currently work as a designer at You & Your Wedding magazine, a Hearst Magazines UK title. After graduating in 2009 I did a few unpaid internships in London and New York, which led to a paid, one-year features internship at Red magazine. I used Red for my practical dissertation, writing and designing features in their house style, and this had a big impact on me getting the job
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as it showed I knew the brand inside out. The best thing for me about Writing Fashion & Culture was that it taught you all aspects of the industry. I started the course fully intending to become a journalist but by my second year I knew that I wanted to go into design, a job I didn’t know existed before the course. Having experience in journalism and design
opened up so many more opportunities to me. I took a features internship to get my foot in the door, then made contacts through other magazines in the company and managed to get a paid art internship at Psychologies. After six months of learning the ropes on the art desk I got my first permanent position as designer on Cosmopolitan Bride and You & Your Wed-
ding. My job involves everything from designing pages to picture research and doing my own still life shoots. It’s important to be confident about the skills you learn on the course as, combined with work experience, they stand you in good stead for industry standard. I hadn’t even studied graphics at GCSE level before the course and now I’m a graphic designer.
Don’t shy away from any aspects of the course just because they’re new... they may turn out to be your dream career!
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CLAIRE
SMITH
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It has been a fast journey up to web executive, but I couldn’t have done it without the Solent tutors telling us from day one the importance of internships
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HOLLY
PIKE 14
I finished uni in May, under strict instructions from our tutors to immediately started applying for any jobs I thought I was suitable for, along with internships hundreds of miles away (with no pay) for magazines I had never heard of, or had any desire to read. Although, compared to other students, I was quick off the mark in applying for these positions, I was convinced that I was never going to get a job and I would become another government unemployment statistic (that’s scare tactics for you, right there). To my surprise and delight I was offered an internship at one of the few magazines I really wanted a job at: Pure Beauty - a trade magazine for the beauty retail industry. I began as a social media intern in September ‘11 and it soon became clear that this wasn’t going to be a ‘making teas and sending
post’ sort of internship – I had been given a brand-new role in the company, and I had full responsibility for myself from day one. Within my first month I helped to double social media interactions and users, assist in the running of the annual Pure Beauty Awards, and I took over maintaining the website. At the end of the year I was promoted and kept on as a permanent member of staff. In my new role I will be running all four of the company’s websites and launching a companywide social media strategy. It has been a fast journey up to web executive, but I couldn’t have done it without the Solent tutors telling us from day one the importance of internships and coming rise in web-related roles to our industry – both pieces of advice have earned me a job that I absolutely love!
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W
hen it takes only an audacious phone call, a little initiative and a lot of persistence, you come to realise that that dream job you thought you’d never get near to is a realistically reachable one, after all. On applying to university, I was certain that I would leave with every intention of writing and a stockpile of months of fashion cupboard experience on my CV. Writing Fashion & Culture was to be my gateway to the glossy magazines and powerfully influential papers but admittedly, I was ignorant. Ignorant to the real world of fashion and bleakly unaware of how many doors had opened on my application to Southampton Solent. My role at Ralph Lauren consists of
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managing all RL brands sold wholesale in the UK. I ensure that all of our collections are prepared logistically and creatively in order for our sales team to present to wholesale retailers. At present, I run a small team, including my assistant Sophie and an internship programme which sees over 24 interns pass through the showrooms every year. Being on the WFC course, most importantly, taught me to proficiently integrate myself into the environment I now work in. Although not applying a level of journalistic writing directly, the skills WFC taught me has enabled me to progress much more rapidly than I imagined possible, propelling me forward in my career.
The flexibility of the lecturers and my determination allowed me to enter fulltime work even before leaving university and I owe a significant part of my development and success to this
ALICE
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SCOTT
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Through the Magazine Design and Onl began to get a feel for designing, to t for the majority of the web-developme
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currently work as a graphic designer for fashion forecasting agency Mudpie. I started off by doing a work experience placement after leaving uni and through a mixture of luck and hard work I landed a job working on our website, eventually moving over to a design position. WFC helped me prepare a great deal for my job by exposing me to design work – I’ve always been good at writing, hence why I chose the course, but I had never considered editorial or web design to be a viable career path. Through the Magazine Design and Online Magazine production units I really began to get a feel for designing, to the point where I am now responsible for the majority of the web development
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work on our website, MPDClick.com, all of our marketing efforts (both printed and online) and the first and second editions of MPD Vision, which is our new bi-annual trend magazine. I loved the course while I was a student and am still very proud of what I achieved and the pathways it opened up to me. With the job market becoming ever more competitive, make sure you take as much work experience as possible (and make sure - it’s worthwhile experience too; don’t be afraid to quit it if you genuinely aren’t learning anything) and to fcus on honing your skills as best you can. If that means putting work in during your spare time, so be it.
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line Magazine Production units I really the point where I am now responsible ent work on our website, MPDClick.com
JAMES
SAMUEL
-CAMPS 19
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hen I was looking for a degree that suited my needs Writing Fashion & Culture was the only one to cover all of the many interests in fashion that I had (and still have). It’s a unique course that helped mould me into a keen fashion follower and writer, the course was so diverse that it allowed me to tap into my other interests as well, such as: photography; styling; and fashion history and culture. During my second year at Solent I began freelancing for an online website, writing articles on emerging talents within the creative industry. The experience from the website opened up many other opportu-
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nities for me, including internships, work experience, and freelancing for The Metro International, Boutique 1 Magazine, Jamaican Eats and others. I graduated in 2009 and since then I have worked at The National Magazine Company under the graduate scheme, for F&F as a member of the menswear buying team, and I now work in marketing as a communications officer. I still continue to write for various publications including local newspapers, food magazines and fashion magazines. This year I hope to study for my MA in fashion history and Culture at to see what other opportunities may arise.
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I graduated in 2009 and since then I have worked at The National Magazine Company under the graduate scheme and for F&F as a member of the menswear buying team
ETHANIE
ROBERTSON 21
BA (Hons)
WRITING Fashion & Culture
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