Eurotex ID: A Multidisciplinary collaboration to enhance the EUROpean TEXtile IDentity
NEWSLETTER 2
Latest news from Eurotex ID projectThe study visits in Guimaraes (28 – 30 April) and Winchester (17-18 June)
The visit started at Rafael Freitas’ Atelier, a former student of Vocational School Cenatex, who is developing his dream of becoming a well-known Fashion Designer and is having, due to a lot of persistence and hard work, a lot of success. The students were able to take a close look to his Ceremony Collections and all the fabrics he uses to produce them; it was not only a moment of inspiration but also a educational experience for the young students, who are very close to enter the world of work.
After a short visit to Cenatex School to show the working environment of the three young fashion designers participating in EurotexID (Ana Juliana, Vanessa Freitas and Isaura Ribeiro), the group had also the opportunity to visit the Designing Department of one of the biggest textile companies in Guimarães – António Almeida & filhos, a workshop about Traditional Embroidery from Guimarães, and as a last experience a close contact with Fátima Leite, a Textile Designer from Universidade do Minho, who showed the students the last trends in Textiles and gave her opinion about the students projects.
Before leaving, the partners had the opportunity to attend the launch of the EurotexID exhibition at the Textile Museum in Famalicão. Some samples collected in several companies in Portugal created a nice and interesting environment at the Museum. The exhibition was also a mean of dissemination of the project and the three first prototypes of Cenatex’s Students.
For us, Portuguese partners, it has been a pleasure to receive all the colleagues in Guimarães and, as far as we could realize, it was a great experience, especially for the students.Cláudia Amaro, Project Coordinator Vocational School Cenatex
As Eurotex ID developed from the study and research stages into the production of works and public dissemination phase, all the partners discussed adding a study visit to Winchester School of Art to the existing programme.
The visit was developed to fully articulate the project objectives of integration, co-operation and networking between partners but particularly students; the visit was timed to coincide with the WSA final year Degree Show exhibition, to promote the project at the most public event in the School and to provide first hand experience of professional preparation, portfolio presentation and display of textile and fashion works. All students benefited from this in-depth observation, and textile staff at WSA explained and presented in detail samples of student portfolios.
This opened discussion about the diverse creative methods in UK art and design education, and achieving high quality outputs in design and fashion. Students and partners observed methods for developing ideas and samples into finished products, and evaluated how well a market or client brief had been interpreted.
We were also able to view two public fashion shows presented by graduating WSA students, featuring 60 collections of 6 garments each. The shows provided a context for critical evaluation within a highly enjoyable, motivating experience for our guests and students.Clio Padovani, Project Coordinator WSA University of Southampton
Website
www.acte.net/eurotexid/
Toward the final conference and exhibition of Eurotex ID
Prato Textile Museum, Italy21-22 October 2010
After four European study visits – Terrassa, Prato, Guimaraes and Winchester - aimed to exchange experiences and ideas, the workgroups from Cenatex and WSA schools are now working to produce their own project. The students are transforming their sketches and designs into real products of design, fashion outfits and fabrics.
The projects will be displayed in the final exhibition which will open on 21st October 2010 in Prato Textile Museum.
The final conference of the project will take place in Prato on 21-22 October 2010. The conference will present the results of the project and will focus on different issues related the changes of textile industry, the new tools of education in design and the enhancement of fashion and textile heritage and company archives.
The Eurotex ID conference is foreseen as an important chance to explore the possible interactions and synergies between industry, culture and education in the T&A sector into the frame of an international meeting.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
