Fashionistas Tour de Paris 2018

This year the Textiles Department was privileged in being able to take all the KS4 and KS5 students on a fashion and enrichment educational visit to Paris. As part of the new Design & Technology curriculum at both GCSE and A-level, it is essential that our students are given the opportunity to explore products in the real world outside their ‘normal’ world.

The trip was organised with the idea to offer all student studying for  GCSE or A-level Textiles from Years 10 to 13 the opportunity to gather valuable primary research that can enhance their practical outcomes. This visit took place from the 22nd of November to 24th November 2018. The group were led by two teachers and we used a range of public transport including the Eurostar for our journeys. We had a beautiful accommodation at the hotel B&B Disneyland.

These were the main places we visited for educational purposes and some enrichment:

In the parks at Disneyland the students really enjoyed seeing the vast array of costumes and were given the privilege of speaking to some of the staff.

At La Vallee Village, the students were allowed to visit a range of shops where they were able to compare their retail outlets with that of the UK.

Musee des arts decoratifs, this museum of the decorative arts and design is located in the Palais du Louvre’s western wing, known as the Pavillon de Marsan, there an exhibition on Japanese Arts and Fashion was visited.

Students took a guided walk through the most fashionable districts of Paris, the two hour walk starting near the Palais Royal, taught the group about the history of fashion; past fashionable upmarket boutiques and vintage shops; and hear about some of the most famous designers such as Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Dior.

The Palais du Louvre was part of the guided walking tour, there the students focused on  some of the high end designer and vintage shops.

Port de la Bourdonnais was the starting point for the river cruise. The Bateaux Parisiens gave an excellent view over the major sights in Paris.

The observation deck of the Tower Observation Deck offers the best views of the Eiffel Tower and all of Paris Montparnasse, so that ave the students an overview of the grand city of Paris.

Eiffel Tower, Paris’s most famous landmark, was one of the highlights of the walking tour because the sight is iconic and beautiful.

The students speak:

‘Firstly we went on a boat ride, there we saw many historical sights of Paris including Notre Dame and the Louvre. We also visited Disneyland, from this I learnt that the costumes, especially for the princesses, have very full skirts and have over extenuated parts to make it more fairy-tale-like. As well as this, the colours are very vibrant and bright. The costumes that stood out to me were the princess dresses as they are very memorable and take inspiration from the original films, for example the Sleeping Beauty dress was pink and had a similar design, however, it was much fuller in the skirt and some parts of the garment is patterned. The fabrics look luxurious as they are supposedly for royalty’. Millie Yr. 13.

‘ I learnt about the smaller boutiques on our walking guide tour, the area, its history and how it made a name for itself with the shop that sold vintage designer items. I also saw many new techniques being applied to textiles at the Japanese exhibition and saw how they are utilised and presented to add detail. This helped show me how added techniques can make a design more more detailed and interesting. There were many activities pushed into the days and they were all enjoyable. The accommodation was very nice, too. ’ Maisie Yr 10

‘Going on all the trains gave us a sight of what being in Paris is all about. Disneyland was my favourite, because I saw some of the Disney characters in person. Having Starbucks was also fun.

Paris has been one of my favourite trips ever. I liked going on the boat and learning about the history of Paris and the buildings. I thought that was really cool.

I have learnt much more about the French culture in fashion and that it is very popular. I never knew there were shops with people’s own companies, who made it to be quite big in this industry. Many of their fashion products are far from normal as they have bright colours, weird fabrics, and shapes. Also all the products and the places they are placed in have a background with a long history.’ Shelly and Louise, Yr 10.

‘I really enjoyed this trip; I feel it was the best trip I have ever been on. I hope we get to do more trips like this and stay longer next year’. Tom Yr 11.

‘Thank you Miss, this visit was the best and we really enjoyed working together as a class and also learning together. We have some ideas for our products.’ Yr 12.

GMS would like to say a huge thank you to the administration team, the parents and carers for supporting the enterprise, and to Miss Agbozo and her team for working so hard to give the students a memorable experience.