09 Mar Sewing skills back in vogue
Fashion Exchange filling production void
by: LINDA WHITE
Special to Postmedia Network, The SUN
First posted:
When Anastasia De Lyon began studying fashion management, she never imagined she’d need to take a break after just one semester in order to earn enough money to finance her studies. But her cloud had a silver lining: a fashion hub designed to improve employment opportunities for immigrants and at-risk youth.
The Fashion Exchange delivers training through Ontario Youth Skills Connections to prepare Regent Park community members for entry-level jobs in the fashion industry. De Lyon completed the apparel fit technician and industrial power sewing programs. Each 16-week program is offered through George Brown’s school of fashion studies.
She landed a 100-hour internship at Kleinfeld Hudson’s Bay. “Not only am I using my fit and sewing skills, I’ve also been able to experience other aspects of the business, like production and visual merchandising.” The 29-year-old will continue her fashion management program this spring armed with “foundational skills” she believes benefit anyone in the fashion industry.
Demand for industrial power and fit technician skills is on the rise, reports Marilyn McNeil-Morin, chair of George Brown’s school of fashion studies. “I get calls almost every day from people looking for sewers because production is moving back to Toronto.”
That’s partly because of the challenges of working with overseas production facilities. “In addition, with more awareness of social accountability in production, sustainability and the environmental footprint of the clothing we wear, there’s a lot of interest in moving production back to Canada,” she says.
The lack of people with employable sewing skills is a hindrance, agrees Jennifer Baird, president of Stitch It. She worked with George Brown to develop the apparel fit program and has also been offering placements for its graduates.
Beneficial job placements
“Students have had a chance to work in a real-life environment with customers. It’s great for us because we get to expose people to what we think is a really great career,” says Baird. Sewing skills are highly transferable to the retail industry and can help aspiring designers. “If they love making people look and feel good in their clothes, alterations is a great middle step or even career.”
Connecting “jobs without people and people without jobs” is rewarding, says McNeil-Morin. “Some students tried post-secondary or other types of training and were having trouble succeeding for one reason or another. Some just had too many barriers in the way … but love the very hands-on and applied nature of this.”
The job placement is a critical component of the program. “Students have someone who will provide a reference and some even get offered employment. Some decided they really liked to learn and decided to go back to school.”
Fashion Exchange also provides opportunities for fashion students to experience day-to-day challenges of apparel production in a lean, small-scale setting. Emerging designers can access the hub to produce collections until they reach sufficient scale to evolve to larger production.
New programs will be developed to prepare students to enter the industry with an understanding of the sustainable production process and how to balance cost, quality, and environmental and ethical production requirements.
“It’s been many years since we’ve had a skilled workforce in production because the skills left when production left so we have to rebuild that capacity,” McNeil-Morin says. “Not only do you need sewers but you need production managers, technical designers and people who can not only develop a collection but carry it right through to completion. You need those people right here in Toronto.”
QUICK FACTS
The Fashion Exchange was developed in partnership with the ministry of economic development, employment and infrastructure and George Brown College’s community partnerships office.
Programs are open to youth ages 18 to 29. Interested applicants can contact George Brown’s community partnerships office at [email protected].
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