Goodbye London College of Fashion

London College of Fashion Graduation

One happy graduate

It started with pink and ended with pink. On Tuesday I graduated with a First Class Honours in Fashion Journalism from the London College of Fashion. I spent the day in a bright pink dress to match the pink hood and trim on my gown. A mortarboard and smile were my accessories. 

My best friend helps me with a wobbly mortarboard

Juliette came all the way from Paris for the occasion

My mum and I

Practising my smile for when I collect my degree

During the ceremony designer Oswald Boateng was presented with an honourary degree. He took to the stage and gave a speech that I will always remember: “Lots of people ask me how you get to my position. Well the dedication that you have all put into completing your degrees is the answer. Carry that with you and it will be you on this stage.”

Boateng’s words inspired me, but so did seeing my friends and peers take to the platform to collect their degrees. As I collected mine I thought back over my three years at university.

My final day at the London College of Fashion

Libby's London College of Fashion Highlights

LONDON

Studying at the London College of Fashion gave me the opportunity to move to one of the best cities in the world. Being a student in the capital was an incredible experience. The city that once daunted me is now the place that I call home.

My first room in London, Hackney 2010

Lights, camera, action

I have always wanted to be a writer, but when it came to the second year of my degree I decided to specialise in broadcast journalism. Before university I had never picked up a video camera, but I was (and still am) intrigued by the changes taking place in journalism.  With even traditional print publications developing their online content and working with moving image, I wanted to broaden my skills. I have now filmed, edited and presented a broad range of subjects (including a film about a city farm, a documentary about clothing issues faced post-mastectomy, and my final project film about unpaid internships in the fashion industry). 

 New York New York

During my second year at university I went to New York to interview David Jay, photographer behind The Scar Project. Travelling by myself and meeting such interesting people gave me a huge amount of confidence and taught me that distance isn't an insurmountable barrier.

Project P&G

One of my favourite units on my degree was an industry project, in which we did research for corporate client Procter and Gamble. Working on a ‘live’ project was a great experience. I particularly enjoyed presenting our findings to P&G at Burlington House. 

3 is the magic number

My third year at university was by far my favourite. It was also the most challenging, but working on an individual project with which I had such a strong connection (my final year was spent investigating unpaid internships in the fashion industry) drove me to produce work that I am proud of. The flexible timetable of the final year allowed me to work part time at Intern Aware, a great learning process that had me giving talks at universites and Parliament.

Third year also meant a huge amount of one on one support from staff. 

“Things do not change, we change” (said Henry Thoreau)

After three years of studying I have changed in more ways than I could have imagined before starting my degree. Although I am still interested in fashion (why people wear what they wear fascinates me), I have opened my eyes to other interests and options. I have discovered broadcast journalism, which I love. I have spoken out about the immoral use of unpaid labour and become a stronger person for it. But despite all these changes and my career shift away from fashion, I am still glad I studied at the London College of Fashion.

When I was a school student living in my hometown of Gillingham and tearing pages from Vogue, I dreamt of studying at the London College of Fashion. I am proud for following through the dream I had when I was 16, but also for shaping my experience at university in such a way to fit new dreams too.

And in the end it was probably fate that I study at the London College of Fashion. The college colour is pink. 

Libby

Back to Blogging

I'm sorry I've been a bad blogger. Here's a smile. (Me at a recent BBQ competition. Which I WON)

Yes it's been a long time since I blogged.

Things have been pretty busy in Libbyland recently, what with turning 21 (it was hard work. It took me several days to recover) and finishing my university degree (I got a First!! Have a look at my showreel here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yf2PukrMthc) and campaigning hard for fairer, paid internships. I've done some writing for the Guardian and have been tweeting away (most recently at Tesco Customer Care, after a horrible experience made me angry to the value of a £10 'good will' gift voucher that is now on its way to me.)

Have a look at my shiny updated website, www.libbypage.info, to see what I've been up to.

Despite all the exciting serious things going on in my life at the moment, I think it's time to get some pink and sunshine back into it too. I am of the strong opinion that a woman can love both campaigning and cupcakes, and that you can be a strident feminist and still love to bake and rock a pair of killer red wedges (my latest purchase).

So on this blog I am going to try and celebrate the sunny side of life (as well as probably sharing the occasional rant, because that's just me).

"And if you couldn't be loved, the next best thing was to be let alone." L.M Montgomery

L.M Montgomery said that the next best thing to being loved was to be let alone. I must admit I can understand where she was coming from. You can do what you like, when you like, and no one is going to tell you that it's inappropriate to eat cake for breakfast. (Yes, I ate cake for breakfast this morning.)

I am lucky enough to be loved (here's us, having just won an international BBQ competition representing France in honour of my best friend Juliette. We baked a cake on the BBQ). But one of my favourite things to do is still to spend time by myself in cafés eating cake, or in bookshops strolling through the aisles and tucking up in a corner like a cat. I think the best combination in life is to be loved, whether by a partner, family, friends, your pet poodle or all of the above, but to still enjoy time spent happily alone.

One of my favourite lovely lonely London spots is Woolfson & Tay in Southwark, a delicious independent bookshop with equally delicious cake served in the adjoining café. This slice was raspberry, rose and pistachio and tasted as good as it looked.

This week I received feedback from my final university project (a film about unpaid internships) and found out that I've got a First in my degree.

Unfortunately my friends were all busy that evening, but that wasn't going to stop me from celebrating.
 
I headed to the Southbank, where I spent my evening enjoying the late sunshine. Children were playing in the fountains and the sound of laughter and chatter made me smile.

I stumbled across live music at the Southbank Centre (one of my favourite spots in London), spent well over an hour in Foyle's, bought two books (Franny and Zooey, J.D Salinger and The Pursuit of Love, Nancy Mitford) and bought dinner from the food stalls outside the Southbank Centre.

Then I headed back to my flat and watched the sun setting like melting pastels out my window, glass of wine in hand.




All in all it was a pretty perfect evening.


You don't have to be lonely when you're alone (and you don't have to be alone to be lonely).

Libby

Diary of a Protestor: London Fashion Week

Pay Your Interns: London Fashion Week Protest

I have encountered many fashion dilemmas in my 20 years. Are sequin wellies a good idea (yes) how many novelty jumpers is too many novelty jumpers, and what do you wear in the snow when all you own are dresses and skirts? But on Friday I was faced with a fashion first:  how to accessorise a t-shirt emblazoned with the words ‘PAY YOUR INTERNS’ that I would be wearing to London Fashion Week.

On Friday morning as fashionistas slipped on their stilettos for the start of fashion week, I pulled on my t-shirt and headed to the University of the Arts London’s Students Union. I was meeting up with the team there that had been working for days packing ‘PAY YOUR INTERNS’ tote bags with information for interns.

“I’d say it’s probably the first time that London Fashion Week goody bags have contained information about National Minimum Wage Legislation…” said Fairooz, Culture and Diversity Officer at SUARTS, as we grabbed armfuls of bags and ran for the bus to Somerset House.

As we stepped off the bus and approached the London Fashion Week flags flapping in the breeze, I began to feel incredibly conscious of the slogan printed across my chest. ‘Unpaid internships’ and ‘fashion’ are phrases that seem to roll off the tongue together in the same breath. Yet to question the system, and to raise the question right in the face of the industry like this at London Fashion Week… Well…

My ears rang with the clicking of heels and the silence of stares.

“This is a bit scary, isn’t it?” I said to Fairooz as we approached the entrance.

There was little time for fear though as we gathered with Intern Aware and the rest of the protestors and headed together through the stone archways. We assembled in the courtyard and watched as the faces turned.

Then a moment later: “are you giving out those bags?” and, “Pay your interns. Yes. I completely agree,” and we were off.

Throughout the morning we handed out tote bags and talked to hundreds of people about the campaign. Most people were overwhelmingly supportive. I felt a rush of excitement watching the bags disappear with people into the crowd, our message carried on their arms.

When I first came to London Fashion Week it was as an eager unpaid intern. It is safe to say I am somewhat jaded now, and that coming back this time felt very different.

Despite my initial fear on turning up at London Fashion Week dressed like I was, I am not really scared. As protestors we may have been outnumbered by bloggers, editors and buyers who were far more fashionable than us, but I know that the messages on our baggy white t-shirts were right. And I know that we were representing thousands of people who feel the same way, people who dream of working in industries like fashion but just don’t have the means to work for months at a time without a wage. People who are no less determined or talented than those who get the breaks, but who just can’t afford the price of a future in fashion.

There may be a way to go but I am hopeful that one day we won’t need to wear these t-shirts because interns will get a wage, not just because it’s the law, or because it makes long term business sense for companies to have the widest possible pool of talent to choose from, but because it is right.

Suddenly some stilettos and stares seem a lot less frightening when you realise you are right, and you are not alone.

Stop and smell the flowers

"They seemed to be hardly Railway children at all in those days, and as the days went on each had an uneasy feeling about this which Phyllis expressed one day. 
"I wonder if the Railway misses us," she said, plaintively. "We never go to see it now."
"It seems ungrateful," said Bobbie; "we loved it so when we hadn't anyone else to play with..." 
 The Railway Children, E Nesbit


 When I first moved to London I chose my student accommodation based on its proximity to Columbia Road Flower Market. It is one of my favourite places and in my first year I found myself there most Sunday mornings, smelling the flowers and listening to the stallholders calling out the prices of snapdragons and tulips.

If I'm honest though, one of the reasons I would go there was because I didn't have much else to do on a Sunday, or anyone to do it with. Leaving home for the first time was lonely. But instead of feeling lonely in my room I went out and explored. The flowers and coffee shops and markets were my company.

That was two years ago: I now feel lucky to have made lovely friends and to have a busy balance of seeing them and working on my final university project. But this morning I woke up and realised that it has been nearly a year since I visited Columbia Road.

Final year is hectic so technically I should probably have spent today working on my dissertation, but after spending a stressful Saturday at university I decided that flowers would be good for my soul.

I headed to Columbia Road with my camera and enjoyed a day of perfect loneliness. I ate cake alone and smiled at strangers and bought myself roses - because everyone deserves roses every now and then. It is lovely to have other people to make me happy (and even to buy roses for me) but it is also nice to spend days like these by myself, taking joy in the smell of the flowers. Friends make me very happy but it is good to remind myself that I can make me very happy too.

(Cake and roses help.)

Libby