Charlie Sandles Fashion placement at Phase Eight
“I saw a course that offered the opportunity to study the key areas of fashion promotion and styling to name a few, I was super excited to apply!”
Charlie Sandles secured a fashion placement at Phase Eight fashion brand who have been dressing women for over 40 years. Their amazing team of in-house designers have the knowledge and expertise to create feel-good styles with hand-drawn prints you'll wear forever. Their dedicated to sourcing premium fabrics to create styles with longevity and versatility.
Read below Charlie's story about how studying at London South Bank University has pushed Charlie to her full potential in Fashion.
What brought you to study at LSBU?
I wanted to find a course that offered study across a range of disciplines in fashion. I was unsure exactly how I wanted to get into the fashion industry, and so when I saw a course that offered the opportunity to study the key areas of fashion promotion (photography, filmography, styling to name a few), I was super excited to apply!
Why did you want to study Fashion?
I have always been creative, but also loved writing essays and learning theory; I wanted to study a degree that could combine these two interests. I think many people see fashion as design only, but there are so many different job roles within the industry for a range of skill sets. I love clothing design and textiles which is why I was predominantly drawn to fashion and now I'm so enamored by the power and creative freedom of fashion.
What additional skills have you learnt during this course?
The ability to use Adobe software! I used Illustrator and Photoshop minimally in my art foundation, but I have significantly improved these skills (thanks to the help of Tim) on my course.
How flexible is this placement around your professional and personal life?
My placement was a normal 9:00am-5:30pm job, Monday to Friday. For the first couple of months, I was additionally interning with a magazine so in all honesty I had little 'free time' other than the weekends. Speaking of my experience only, it's a hard adjustment going into a full-time job from studying, especially after the pandemic and remote learning. It was jumping into the deep end that helped me learn so much, however, and I think I wouldn’t have experienced all that I had if the placement had been shorter/ required me to come in three days a week.
What are your plans after graduation?
I hope to look for an international job, as I love to travel and want to experience as much as I can! I want to be a children's wear buyer- something I didn't even consider when I started university, but I love my placement so much that I want to delve deeper into the buying world.
Would you recommend this course to other graduates and why?
The teaching team at LSBU are extremely knowledgeable and experienced; they are really invested in pushing you to achieve your full potential.