For my first project, I am designing for an Autumn/Winter 2026 fashion collection for young girls. I am drawing inspiration from English and Roman architecture gained through personal trips and experiences, to celebrate these locations on a global scale.
This is a live brief running alongside an external link, which is a fantastic opportunity for getting industry feedback and new thoughts on my project. It’s also great for building my skills in presenting and verbalising my work, ahead of future industry scenarios I may be in.
My first point of reflection is that second year has been very different to first year; however, the change has been fun to get to grips with. I have found it has a different pace because it is more independently led, where planning and responsibility for my work have been incredibly important. There is more independent study time, which has been invaluable for giving me a chance to practise the new skills we have learnt, but it's meant I have had to put a lot more thought into planning my time, holding myself accountable and setting my own mini deadlines.
Moreover, I have been using an ongoing timesheet to help plan my day-to-day activities whilst also seeing an overview of my project, so if I start feeling stressed, I can refer to my general plan to regain a sense of control. All this is a step up from the independent study I had last year.
Additionally, I have loved the chance to delve into aspects that I really wanted to continue building on from my first year. I have been developing my style of colour and abstracting shapes, which I began to find towards the end of my first year. I have really enjoyed this as it’s helped me find confidence in my work, as well as learn what medium I like to use most. I have found I can really focus on using pens and oil pastels, collaging pieces together, more than in my first year when we were exploring so many different techniques.
Along with exploring my style, I have been able to design toward a context that I have always wanted to try. This term I have chosen kidswear, which is a different style to the contexts I had worked towards previously. It has a much looser, brighter and more playful feel, which I have loved getting to grips with.
Lastly, I have really enjoyed just being able to soak up student life in my second year. Although it is beginning to get harder, as deadlines loom and things need to start coming together, I have loved being in this in-between stage of not being completely new to everything like first year, but also not being super bogged down by third-year pressures! This middle stage between the two "bigger" years has been super fun for playing, trialling and experimenting in my work as well as embracing living with friends and in a house and everything that comes with that!
I have definitely felt more settled in the area, and able to explore further afield as I’m not learning the "basics" anymore like I was in first year. Additionally, I feel I have made a better work-life balance and am utilising my organisation skills to ensure I can manage both more effectively, which is making second year a really positive experience so far.
Overall, this year has been a significantly different experience from what I expected it to be, but I have tried to make the most of it. I found it’s important to give yourself time to settle into new routines... making the most of the year where you feel more settled than before but not as stressed as what’s to follow. It’s been nice learning to adapt to new study patterns too, showing myself that I can be flexible and build different routines like I will when I am working and in changing environments or having to meet evolving demands.
