A Day in the Life of a Fashion Student: London
LCF newest building in Stradford.
Written by Valentine Fabre
The “Day in the Life of a Fashion Student” series features interviews with fashion students from all over the world, who share their experiences at leading universities and offer advice to those embarking on their academic journeys.
For our first instalment of the series we head to London, in conversation with Sakina Sule Ali from London College of Fashion’s BA in Fashion Journalism.
What is the Fashion Journalism course like?
We are usually at university two to three times a week for lectures or technical workshops. We write articles, carry on interviews or create social media content.
You have to create your work/life balance yourself — you can get good grades without spending your entire life staring at your screen. I would usually finish my assignments a week before they are due and submit them two days before deadline.
What do you look forward to in your day?
I like creating social media content. It is part of my degree but it is also something I do personally. I love doing Days in the Life videos or content with advice for fashion journalism students. Because when I was starting out I didn’t find anyone that was doing anything specifically directed at fashion journalism. I do it because it excites me.
Why did you choose to study in London?
I didn’t choose my university based on location, I just chose a university that interested me. I already lived in London so it was quite convenient, but it is also the best fashion university in the world. When I decided I wanted to take fashion as my degree, I just looked up which was the best one. My sister also went to London College of Fashion (LCF) so it came with good recommendations. I did look at other ones but did not apply to them; UAL was the only place I wanted to go to.
How has your experience at university been so far?
LCF just moved to the new building in Stratford in East London, so you get to meet loads of different people from different courses now that we are all in the same building. It is a great way to network.
The library is quite small, but as journalism students, we don’t actually need a lot of tools compared to other subjects. Like design students will need the machines, but we just need our laptops and Adobe.
“If you do everything they ask you to, that’s just passing. You need to do a bit extra if you want to get an A. ”
What is one thing you wished you knew before starting?
For journalism students, there’s actually not that much equipment that you need to buy and that is something not many people know. One thing I would say though is a microphone — that makes a big difference. When I did my first content assignment, it was good but it wasn’t the best because I didn’t have a microphone, and the recording came out quite loud. The little things make all the difference.
Another thing is that something that would get you an A in your assignment in first year, won’t get you an A in second year. You need to be more specific and add something extra to get such grades. If you do everything they ask you to, that’s just passing. You need to do a bit extra if you want to get an A.
Discover everything you need to know about studying fashion and where to do it on The Glowth Academy.
Written by Valentine Fabre