I am a complete sucker for a cup of tea and an Eat-Sum-More biscuit, so when Allen Leroux, CEO of Fedisa, invited me over, I was happy to wander down for a gossip and a look at his holiday snaps. For those of you who are unaware, Fedisa is a private university offering a 3-year BA Degree in Fashion, and they are based in town.Allen is so passionate about excellence and producing well rounded, competent graduates, that it is really fun to listen to his plans and ideas. It becomes apparent that it is the attitude of his students that sets them apart from others. With a total commitment to finding their own niche in the fashion industry, students are rigorously educated in both design and entrepreneurship and emerge with a wonderfully diverse grounding, ready to add value to their employers.
To be honest, I am never convinced that graduates are going to be able to work effectively on graduation, and think that a finishing school of sorts, or good old fashioned free work experience is almost always required. But so far his first batch of graduates seem to have found themselves almost immediately imbedded in the disparate parts of our industry that they were aiming for, so I may actually be wrong in this particular instance.
I am looking forward to Fedisa's graduate show, to be held at the Marquee at the V&A Waterfront next month — it really should be interesting to see what is coming out of this institution in 2008.