Five university design students have been selected to undertake two-month paid internships in UK production environments to provide real-life manufacturing and sourcing experience in the UK fashion and textile industry.

Students have been selected from the five participating universities on this year’s MADE IT programme: Plymouth College of Art, Winchester School of Art, De Montfort University, University of Salford and Bucks New University.

Hannah Bentley MADE IT portfolio

UKFT held a production and sourcing masterclass for fashion and textile design students at each university to promote the importance of production and sourcing within a rounded fashion education and to highlight the breadth of job opportunities across the supply chain. The sessions also highlighted the rich manufacturing expertise and specialisms within the UK.

Kitty Hall MADE IT portfolio

Following the masterclasses, students took part in a production-focused project and UKFT selected winners to undertake the internship.

Merzia Qahramany MADE IT portfolio

UKFT worked with students to identifying a relevant business that matched their career aspirations and interests, with Bristol Weaving Mill and textile design studio Dash & Miller, luxury womenswear manufacturer Gosha London, British outerwear brand Mackintosh, tailoring school The London Academy of Bespoke (LAB) and Leicestershire-headquartered retailer Next offering students an internship for two months.

Tian Lian MADE IT portfolio

Elliot Barlow, UKFT’s manufacturing consultant, said: “The students we selected had a refreshing take on creative design and construction and we felt would really benefit from sourcing and production experience in industry. Whether they decide to take up one of the many opportunities that exist in the UK fashion and textile production sector or take that experience into a design role in future, we know this experience will be invaluable in furthering their careers. We look forward to following their journeys through the internship process and will share their findings for more students to benefit from.”

Yanni Barnett MADE IT portfolio

The MADE IT students awarded internships

• Kitty Hall, a second year student on the BA (Hons) Textile Design Course at De Montfort University, will be at Next @kitty.anais.textiles

Hannah Bentley

• Hannah Bentley, a second year student on the BA (Hons) Textile Design Course at Winchester School of Art will go to Bristol Weaving Mill and Dash & Miller @hannahbentley_art

Tia Lian Brown

• Tia Lian Brown, a third year student on the BA (Hons) Fashion Design course at the University of Salford, will go to Gosha London @tia_lian_

Merzia Qahramany

• Merzia Qahramany, a second year student on the BA (Hons) Fashion Design course at Bucks New University, will go to Mackintosh @mq_fashion_

Yanni Barnett

• Yanni Barnett, a third year student on the BA (Hons) Fashion Design course at the University of Plymouth will go to LAB @yanni.may.designs

A lasting legacy

Following the internships, UKFT will be working with students and employers to develop two sets of publicly available collateral that aim to raise the quality and expectations of internships across the industry:

• Quality Internship collateral for students with the aim of showing them what a quality internship should look like.
• Quality Internship collateral for employers including frameworks for good quality delivery of an internship, example schemes of work and positive case studies.

Supporting UK manufacturing

UKFT’s MADE IT campaign is generously supported by The Clothworkers’ Company and CapitB. It is part of UKFT’s broader aim of supporting the future of the UK manufacturing sector, which includes running projects to support growth and innovation, promoting and matchmaking businesses and ensuring that the next generation of skilled people entering the sector are being trained to the highest level.

UKFT MANUFACTURING