A career in fashion

The next generation of local fashion designers got the opportunity to showcase their work at Tipperary Education and Training Board’s (ETB) first annual Fashion Show at its Tipperary FET College at Archerstown, Thurles.

This 2023/’24 finale for the ETB’s Level 5 Fashion Design course, hosted on April 30, was a superb showcase of their design work. Students and staff ran a professional fashion show presenting their vibrant design creations reflecting individual inspiration culminating in the models gracing the catwalk to an audience of over 80 guests.

The show was made possible through a collaboration of learners across many courses from Tipperary ETB, including the National Hairdressing Apprenticeship, the Beauty Therapy course, and the Film and Television Production course.

Recruitment is now underway for the September intake of students for this one-year full-time course, with exciting pathways available for learners to go onto higher education, including the newly established BA in Education, Home Economics and Business Studies degree course offered by Mary Immaculate College in Thurles.

The Level 5 Fashion Design course provides students with the opportunity and confidence to develop and manufacture their ideas into unique and innovative design artefacts. Learners are given the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of the design process from trend and brand research, drawing skills, design development and presentation through to garment manufacture. The course results in the development of a robust portfolio of work which will carry them forward in their design journey through pathways in further education.

The exciting news for Tipperary ETB Fashion Design students is that they are eligible to progress to the first year in Higher Education courses in major Art & Design Universities throughout the country including TUS’s Limerick School of Art & Design, the National College of Art & Design, MTU’s Crawford College of Art & Design, The Institute of Art, Design & Technology Dún Laoghaire, and the University of Limerick.

The high standard of the Tipperary ETB Fashion Design course content has opened a pathway for students to apply for advanced entry to year 2 of the Fashion Design BA (Hons) in TUS Limerick School of Art & Design, based on their Portfolio of work and an interview.

The course offers an excellent foundation for students to learn about the design process and to build a robust portfolio for entry into a design discipline in Art & Design at University.

COURSE DETAILS

Tipperary ETB’s next Level 5 Fashion Design course is due to start on September 9. Anybody interested in applying for a place on this exciting, career-orientated course can visit www.fetchcourses.ie and type in the course code 412478. You can also talk to the programme lead for further information and the pathways it offers by contacting Tipperary ETB, Archerstown, Thurles on 052 6134333, or emailing courses@tipperaryetb.ie.