London College of Fashion (LCF), UAL, students and staff had an exciting time in Paris, where they exhibited student work at the bi-annual fashion textiles exposition Première Vision in February 2025.
With an exhibition stand in the “PV Designs” section, the LCF Textiles stand represented 55 students from the BA (Hons) Fashion Textiles and MA Fashion Textiles Technologies courses, whose designs were shown alongside top professional textile design studios from around the world.
Around twenty students also travelled to Paris to visit Première Vision to get a glimpse of the vast fashion textile industry, connect with design studios for possible placement opportunities, and see the latest trends in fashion textiles, new fabrics and colours.
They also had the opportunity to help out with the College’s stand, overseen by Sarah Cheyne, Senior Lecturer, Erica Weide, Lecturer (Print), and Harriet Brown, Pathway Leader (Embroidery).
Not only did it help the students gain experience in dealing with customers and showing the collection, but it also made exciting new industry contacts and provided a true professional environment.
The students shared their thoughts:
“Visiting PV was a great experience. It actually motivated me to work more. It got the creative juices flowing,” – Trisha, BA (Hons) Fashion Textiles: Print, Year 3
“It’s exciting, it’s nice to chat to lots of people in the industry. So many reasons to be here, there’s so many things to know about,” – Manu, BA (Hons) Fashion Textiles: Knit, Year 2
“I’m really excited I can be there to see so many wonderful fabrics. I got so much information today,” – Wenqi Lu, BA (Hons) Fashion Textiles: Knit, Year 2
Stand visitors also commented on the creativity and energy of the work, and the visual mix of textiles attracted many customers. One of them was Spanish company Desigual who were very impressed with the collection and bought two designs – a print design from Mikayla Ianiri (BA (Hons) Fashion Textiles: Print, Year 3) and a knit design from Siyu Mao (MA Fashion Textiles Technologies).
Mikayla reflects that participation in the show not only helped with honing her individual design aesthetic and improving technical skills but also boosted her motivation to carry on the creative path.
“When people compliment your designs, you realise you have something to offer and can get those opportunities, too – it makes you feel really good,” she reflects.
Many visitors requested to be put in touch with students or graduates, with the mix of companies showing the truly global aspect of this show. Amongst these were Oceane Roharte (France), Monahan Lingerie (France), Kamdar International (China), Triumph (UK), IRNI (Switzerland), Modesign Talents (China), VCR (Germany), Desigual (Spain), Noura Soulaiman (Saudi Arabia), Kyocera (Japan), Design Union (UK) and Trend Hub (UK).
Prior to the show, LCF was also invited to send images of designs for inclusion in the trend area of Première Vision. Students Trisha Broker (BA (Hons) Fashion Textiles: Print, Year 3) and Xiangwei Luo Annliese, (BA (Hons) Fashion Textiles: Print, Year 2) saw their designs projected on massive screens as part of the trend display in the Inspiration Forum in Hall 5.
Several companies were interested in having students on placement, for example, IRNI (Switzerland) who focus on heritage craft techniques, while some were looking for graduates for freelance employment (print studio Design Union and VCR).
Lastly, there were also several enquiries from University of the Arts (UAL) alumni who found interesting samples and possible textile collaborators among those showing.
Senior Lecturer Sarah Cheyne explains that participating in such events is one of the most established ways of connecting with the industry. Being the only UK university to participate in the show, for many, this unique opportunity is one of the motivating factors for to apply for the course.
“It helps students to step up, understand the industry a bit more and gives them more respect for themselves and what they do,” Cheyne talks about the benefits of doing projects aligned with real-life situations.
Students start exploring how fashion textiles companies work with trends and colours through industry-focused project briefs in their second year. Moreover, they are encouraged to treat the assignments as if they were freelance designers.
The result is a body of work that falls into one or more current trend categories which is first showcased at LCF as a Textiles exhibition in November.
“It’s a really lovely display and it makes the students understand the idea of trends and all the different ways you can interpret the same trend,” says Cheyne.
Another purpose of the exhibition is to select designs suitable for Première Vision. For this, each student would upload 6 of their best designs to a shared Padlet page where invited industry experts vote for their favourites.
This is one of the first instances where students receive feedback from working professionals and understand where their work sits within the industry context.
Oftentimes, the feedback can help students realise that their designs are much more bespoke or craft-orientated, giving them an indication of which part of the market their work might be better suited to.
Many students decide to travel to Paris alongside their designs. Not only can they discover the array of producers, design studios, and manufacturers participating in the show, but also oversee the College’s stand.
"They experience what it’s like to represent a company, have professional conversations and establish business links, and most importantly – they realise that they’re part of it, too,” says Cheyne.
The trip is also an incredible bonding experience. While many students don’t know their classmates very well before, the time they spend together in Paris truly cements the friendships.
Participation in the exposition has also often resulted in many interesting industry partnerships. Cheyne remembers the time she met Kyocera, a Japanese printing company who were developing a new sustainable textile printer at the time.
"After our conversation in Paris, we decided to do a collaboration, and 6 prize-winning students got their fabric printed on the “Forearth” machine for the graduate show,” she explains.
On other occasions, contacts made through the show led to exciting new resources for the students, such as Pantone colour guidebooks and the gift of an archive of textiles by fashion textiles magazine Textile View.
“It’s funny how the more you chat with somebody, if you just probe a bit further, you can find incredible connections and opportunities,” reflects Cheyne. “What matters most is that this helps make the student experience more interesting and industry focused.”