Ready to turn your passion for fashion design into a thriving career? Discover how our Level 3 Fashion Design diploma can help provide you with the skills, experience and industry connections to start your career.
5th December 2024
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Date 17th March 2026
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All information is accurate at the time of publication. Please check individual course pages for the most up-to-date information.
Our first-year Level 3 Fashion Design Diploma students recently took part in an exciting Challenge Week. Here’s what they got up to, and hear directly from the winner!
the challenge week: what it's all about
Students were tasked with acting as Print Designers for Gresham Blake, creating designs for the brand’s Voices In Print shirt collection. The challenge encouraged students to explore how print design can be a medium for activism, creating prints that are not only visually striking but also carry a meaningful message.
Students selected a social, environmental or political issue as their inspiration, using their design skills to advocate for the change and raise awareness through fashion.
The winner will be selected by Gresham himself, and the final printed shirt will be put into production, including:
- A small run of printed shirts
- A run of printed fabric for the winner to keep
- A photoshoot of the shirt for Gresham Blake’s editorial campaign - an incredible addition to any designer’s portfolio!
Students had one week to complete the challenge and were given the following checklist:
- Research journal
- Mood boards
- Sketches/mark making
- Final print design (shirt)
- Full illustration
- Presentation
Hear From The Winner: Millie Taylor
We caught up with the winner, Millie, about her design and approach to the task. She focused on ocean acidification for her print design.
This topic is important to me because working as a fashion student I am constantly reminding myself of more sustainable approaches to my work due to the excess of ocean pollution from fashion, for example: discarded garments, fabrics and materials.
When developing my concept I found inspiration from reading articles on ocean acidification which primarily is affecting the whales. Whales became the main focus as they are the top of the food chain holding the vessel for the health of the marine environment. Thus creating a design spreading awareness for saving whales.
The Design Process
Millie shared her design journey:
"My design process began researching Gresham Blake's ethos and work ethic, whenever I am collaborating with a brand in a project I always read their ethos from their website to grasp an understanding of their beliefs and help to our environment- this is crucial especially in the fashion industry. I found Gresham Blake uses materials considerably taken from the ocean in its favour (plastic), which sparked the idea of my concept into oceanic troubles.
I furthered my research with articles and mood boards to begin visual imagery of what my print could look like. I followed these mood boards with mark makings of waves, plastic, and whales- focusing on the scale and zoomed in version motifs. After this I began my print development using a digital platform and sketching out whales and waves together. I tested size, positioning, and colours many of times until I found a motif I felt was very strong. After this I placed each motif individually onto a shirt, which I became very happy with.
I translated my message into visual print ideas from my mood boards and changing scales to see how it would respond. I made waves and whales larger and smaller focusing on specific areas and drew from these, which created interesting responses."
Being selected as the winner of challenge week was such a surreal feeling and moment in my life as a fashion student. I have always dreamt of having opportunities like this and it is so amazing how the FRA managed to make my dream a reality. I am still overwhelmed with joy and I can’t wait to see what the future holds!
Millie's Favourite Part Of The Challenge
If I had to choose one thing I enjoyed the most about taking part in the project I would have to say going to Brighton to see my design photoshoot. The atmosphere was amazing, Gresham and his team were extremely welcoming considering how nervous I was, and it was such a thrill seeing the model wearing something I designed.
Millie's Advice
When asked for her advice for those considering studying Level 3 Fashion Design with us at the FRA, Millie shared:
Remember your passion through everything. Times can become overwhelming especially in a competitive industry, however remembering your dreams and aspirations are immediately enough motivation to carry on to your best abilities. And just enjoy your time at FRA! You never know what will come your way. I still can't believe I am already leaving this year, and I am so grateful with the amount of knowledge of fashion design and industry knowledge I have learnt here!
Would you love to make a difference through fashion? Join our Level 3 Fashion Design Diploma and learn how to turn your creativity into meaningful, powerful designs. At FRA, you’ll gain the skills to create fashion that not only looks amazing but also raises awareness and sparks change. Explore the course and apply today!
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