Keeping up with the trends in London

After Glamavida (Vol.3) I had always planned to spend the summer in Europe, to travel, to feel inspired, to see new things and hopefully bring some new ideas to the next event we do. When Elly told me she was going to spend the summer in Milan studying Fashion Business in Marangoni she inspired me to look into courses myself and being from London my first choice was to look into the short courses they offered at London College of Fashion as it is a world renowned fashion institution and based right in the heart of London, one of the thriving fashion capitals in the world.

After reviewing a lot of different options, I finally settled on the following three short courses, ranging from 2-5 days each course.

Introduction to Fashion Show Production

Here I learned about all the many stages involved in producing a fashion show from casting models, selecting the right music, lighting and set design and the fine art of co-ordination between designers, models, stylists, hair and make-up.

Creative Brand Management

This course helped me understand how brands are built, managed and evaluated from a creative point of view. I learned about integration and the importance of creativity in fashion branding and how to communicate and understand brands from a visual perspective. This practical course exposed me to innovative brand marketing campaigns in the fashion world.

Introduction to the Fashion Media Business

This course helped me understand the different job roles which come together to create a successful fashion image. Including understanding of the fashion calendar, marketing and advertising for fashion and beauty, the role of PR and journalism, creation of press releases and editorial and fashion forecasting.

The great thing about short courses at LCF is that each course is taught by industry professionals who are considered as some of the top people in their fields within the fashion world. These interactive and creative courses left me feeling completely inspired and ready to take the fashion world by storm and I had so many new ideas I felt ready to burst with this renewed enthusiasm. Each course was full of international students who had travelled from places including Columbia, Brazil, China, Germany, France, in fact I was the only British person in the room!! I learned a great deal but most importantly I learned practical advice and tips on how to network, how to promote yourself and how to spot an opportunity and turn it into something, which we all agreed was very important if you are to succeed in this fast-paced and highly competitive industry.

Elly and I are now planning the next Glamavida and I’m excited to see how all this combined inspiration and new ideas will be incorporated into the event to take Glamavida to the next level. Watch this space for news on the next event in December….!

Education is Always Fashionable

Everyone in this business knows that the fashion industry is fast-paced. You must stay on top of the trends and always be one step ahead of the changing designs or you may become…well, out of fashion. The past few years have particularly been busy for me, co-founding Glamavida, getting to know up-and-coming young Latin American designers, and representing and promoting great brands to our exclusive clientele. But like many young entrepreneurs, the desire to learn nags at you – it is almost nearly impossible to find the time. However, as an entrepreneur you must always trust your instinct and I knew it was time for me to get back in touch with my inner student.

At the beginning of this year I decided the best option for me was to attend a summer course, experience and learn more about the fashion industry. There were many questions and one of the most important was where to study? There are many fashion institutes, but the location was critical. I was only going to be there for short time and I needed to immerse myself in the fashion world. On the recommendation of friends who had attended fashion programs, I learnt about Istituto Marangoni. One look at the website and there was no hesitation – now to just decide between Milan, Paris and London campuses! While the it is no doubt Parsiens and Londoners are some of the most fashionable people in the world, for me, Milan was a given. There I could be in direct contact with the fashion industry (you can smell the fashion in the air there) and of course it doesn’t hurt to when you can speak some Italian….not to mention the delicious Italian food!!!

I was debating between two courses Fashion Business (marketing and brand management) and Fashion Image (very creative, design)...a very tough decision for me. However, my experience founding Glamavida with Leanne pushed me towards picking chose Fashion Business. I thought that course was going to bring me more knowledge about luxury brands, marketing and how this amazing business works.

So after Glamavida vol. 3 finished I packed my bags (a lot of them) and I took my flight to Milan. The course was very intense –not only did we learn a lot about marketing the products but we got to review how major fashion companies approach their brand management and their current strategies. I was thrilled to find out our professor actually works as a consultant for Georgio Armani! Seminars, fashion trends, brand identity, visual merchandising – it all went by too fast. Overall, I would say my experience at Istituto Marangoni was really excellent and it was fantastic meeting interesting people from all over the world. One of my favorite parts of the experience was the time outside of class. The Institute is conveniently located a couple of streets away from Via Montenapoleone and Via della Spiga (where major designers have their stores) so whenever I had a break I could do a little “window shopping.” Nothing is learning like real world is experience ;)

Besides learning a lot, making amazing friends, eating delicious food and Milan inspired me. It may be hard to take time away from your business but the investment left me inspired and ready to grow and push Glamavida to another level!




Elly van Os


For more information about Istituto Marangoni go to http://www.istitutomarangoni.com