12 September 2024
Got an eye for design and a dream to become a visual merchandiser? South Metropolitan TAFE (SM TAFE) fashion courses incorporate real-world design projects to prepare you for industry, such as the striking student exhibition that ran recently at Westfield Carousel.
“We wanted to give that nice vintage feel and it’s really cool to see our concept come to life because we all brought so many great ideas to the table. I think we just felt really proud of the ideas that we put together and we’re so happy with it."
Bonnie Hurley
SM TAFE fashion student
The brief for the students was to create a fashion display for the shopping centre’s display cabinets, with a concept that captured the coziness of the Autumn season, whilst also bringing warmth during the colder winter months.
A team of four fashion business students collaborated on this creative journey, including Bonnie Hurley, Dohyun (Ronny) Han, Asha Macfarlane and Sydney Sudiarko.
Bonnie said that the team wanted their display to focus on the visual earthy beauty and fusion of natural elements such as straw, produce and more.
“Once we were given the Westfield brief, the team and I really wanted to capture the idea of a farmer’s market on a really nice warm Autumn morning so it’s all about pumpkins and chillies and garlic,” explained Bonnie.
“We wanted to give that nice vintage feel and it’s really cool to see our concept come to life because we all brought so many great ideas to the table. I think we just felt really proud of the ideas that we put together and we were so happy with it,” she said.
The students are currently undertaking the MST50122 Diploma of Apparel Fashion and Textiles (Business) at SM TAFE. The course provides job-ready skills to become a fashion buyer, fashion event manager, visual merchandiser, marketing manager, fashion influencer, publicist and more.
“Studying visual merchandising (VM) allows us to gain more industry experience and knowledge, and jumpstart our careers in the fashion business world. Participating in the fashion business course has this VM unit inside it, which gives us an insight of what visual merchandisers do in their day-to-day jobs,” said the student team.
“Fashion at Bentley” is the training environment at SM TAFE Bentley campus, which is one of Australia’s leading fashion design institutions. Complete with cutting edge facilities, its excellent success rate of graduates has led to employment placements at Zhivago and One Fell Swoop, amongst other Western Australian labels.
Trainees learn with meaningful, realistic opportunities to showcase their skills, like the pop-up display exhibition crafted for Westfield Carousel, which ran from June - July in the centre.
Thank you to Westfield Carousel for providing this platform for students to work collaboratively as a team and display their creativity in a prime viewing position for the Perth public. Watch this space as these fresh-up-and-comers enter the fashion world!
Want to be more and forge a future in fashion?
The MST31022 Certificate III in Apparel, Fashion and Textiles is a great entry point into the industry to learn precision crafting of garments made to measure.
The MST50122 Diploma of Apparel Fashion and Textiles (Business) is a slightly higher course, blending fashion style and business with a focus on crafting a brand, fashion buying, forecasting trends and promoting products with finesse.
The MST60122 Advanced Diploma of Apparel, Fashion and Textiles provides advanced fashion management training.
Applications for Semester 1, 2025 are now open! See the Key dates.
The students in the creative process.
The team of four enjoyed collaborating.
Showcasing the completed design project.
The display was on show throughout June and July.
SM TAFE is proud to have a partnership with Westfield Carousel.