In November 2021 Samantha visited Leeds Arts University to talk to the students about the state of the tailoring world today, and to share some of the lessons she and Aras Barami learnt when setting up a new business in a rapidly fading industry caught in the grip of a global pandemic.
A core aim here at Morgan and Fenwick is to continue to encourage new talent into the tailoring industry, so students were given the opportunity to submit their garment made as part of their tailoring module in the hope of being offered a two week placement at Morgan and Fenwick.
The winner would gain real working
experience in a busy and diverse tailoring studio, working on bespoke suits for clients all around the country and practicing techniques learned during their studies. 10 students submitted garments and this was shortlisted down to 4 outstanding pieces of work.
Taking the top spot in this competition was Kamaal Barwany with his brutalist and modern architecture inspired jacket. Kamaal said ‘The brutalist, grey side was designed to be oversized with a square block silhouette, and the rough wool is
intended to represent concrete.’. We loved this unusual inspiration and ‘We had to choose Kamaal as the overall competition winner as his entry was superb and we loved it right away’ said Samantha Fenwick. Kamaal will spend two weeks at Morgan and Fenwick later this year gaining vital experience with our team of highly skilled tailors and cutters. A full article on Kamaal’s jacket will feature in an edition of Chalk to be released later in 2022.
Although the competition had only one intended winner the standard of entry was exceptionally high, and a garment submitted by Imogen-Jade Argyle-Ross caught the eye of Samantha and Senior Lecturer on the Fashion Design course, Andrew Bannister-Bailey. Imogen Jade created a ‘…multi-layered horse-riding outerwear coat. The concept is a jacket than can be thrown on over your horse-riding gear for chilly Autumn/Winter mornings when working in the yard or on an early morning hack’. Three weeks of sewing was required to complete this jacket to ensure all the outer patterns matched, and that attention to detail caught Samanthas attention. Imogen-Jade will also spend two weeks at Morgan and Fenwick and we’re really happy to have her on the team.
Runner up Haiydar Ali created a jacket heavily influenced by his love of Lady Gaga, punk, and his home town Bradford. This hybrid jacket was littered with deeply personal influences and stood out amongst the entries.
Another runner up, Macy Austin, carefully crafted a leather jacket inspired by the fashion of the goth scene in the 80’s that featured an open lace back and bead fringing.
We really enjoyed this collaboration with Leeds Arts University and we are looking forward to working with them again next year to provide further opportunities for future students. You can find the winners online on Instagram.
Kamaal Barwany: https://www.instagram.com/barwanyy/
Imogen-Jade Argyle-Ross: https://www.instagram.com/artaroonie/