Graduate Futures Hosts: What creative Graduates need to know today!

This session is only for London College of Fashion students and graduates. It is aligned to your Graduate Futures personal development journey.

Join us for this in-person event which will allow soon-to-be graduates and alumni the opportunity to network and gain valuable information from key leaders in the fashion industry. Hear the most up-to-date insights first-hand, enabling you to excel at university or the workplace and increase your overall market awareness.
This intimate fireside chat in conversation with Elliot Barlow and Lauren Junestrand from the UK Fashion and Textile Association will be hosted by Melanie Mitchell, Graduate Futures Careers Consultant. Listen as they discuss what the future of fashion holds, share insights on ‘What Fashion Graduates need to know today’, and learn how Elliot and Lauren navigated their personal career journeys before joining UKFT.

• , Manufacturing Consultant at UK Fashion and Textile Association: Elliot Barlow is a Consultant for the UK Fashion and Textile Association, a Lecturer, and a Postgraduate Researcher. Elliot’s career spans over 10 years, working across the breadth and depth of supply chains within industry. With an MA in Innovation Fashion Production from London College of Fashion his experience has been forged from managing luxury garment manufacturers, providing production knowledge, insight, and solutions for apparel businesses, as well as in-house senior management positions. Elliot’s role as a Consultant at UKFT focuses on engagement strategies across industry and education. Specific focus areas include thought leadership, technology development, opportunity creation, education, manufacturing support, and grant management.
• , Innovation and Sustainability Network Manager at UK Fashion and Textile Association: Lauren Junestrand is the Innovation and Sustainability Network Manager at the UK Fashion & Textile Association, where she develops and implements processes and programs to meet UKFT’s long-term innovation and sustainability goals in partnership with cross-functional teams and key industry and academic stakeholders. Lauren holds a BA (Hons) in Fashion Buying & Merchandising and a PhD in Sustainable Fashion Consumption from London College of Fashion. She has previous experience in sustainability education, sustainability research, and environmental science and holds several conferences and academic publications on the topics of circularity, sustainable consumption, and sustainable education.
• , Graduate Futures Careers Consultant: Leveraging over 20 years of experience as a Buyer, Headhunter, and now Consultant, Melanie has worked with a number of brands including Christian Louboutin, Vivienne Westwood, AllSaints, Threads Styling and Sweaty Betty on projects relating to talent acquisition and executive search. Passionate about helping to build both brands and careers through putting the right people, in the right place at the right time she continues to use her industry expertise to coach and inspire the next generation looking to pursue careers in fashion.

In this webinar, you will develop the key skills of communication, proactivity, storytelling, and curiosity as defined by the UAL Creative Attributes Framework (My_CAF). Before attending this activity, we suggest you:

• Students should check out the Graduate Futures Moodle page, which is filled with resources, learning guides and podcasts.

Image credit: LCF Careers Fair 2024. Photography by India Mae Dalby, © LCF Graduate Futures

Host or Publisher LCF Graduate Futures