 Hi, I'm Jenna. I'm studying fashion and textile technology at Saxon University of Applied Science. What makes Saxon unique and fun is that the course is really broad and practical and they have a hands-on approach and although it's really technical, what's unique about it is you learn almost every single hemisphere of the fashion industry so you learn about buying, you learn about merchandising, you learn about the textile technologies, you learn how the process works from when you design the garment to sending a technical pack to the suppliers and then getting back to the final product. Your first year is split into four quarters. Each quarter has a project that you'll do for eight weeks and then you have exams at the end of the ninth or tenth week. So your first project will be into the future and it's a really nice project because you have complete freedom to do whatever you want so you can really do whatever you are interested in. You can make a dress, you can make a t-shirt, you can make shoes if you want, it's really up to you and then they sort of teach you all the steps that you would take in a real-life situation if you were actually going to produce this garment and they tell you about how you would select the textiles and how the business side of it works so I found that project really fun. Then the second quarter is the collection project and that's a really nice project because you get to design and create a small collection and our year was for kids and we had babies so it was super cute, you got to make little dungarees for babies and then you had to do your whole market research, you had to analyse your consumers and analyse your target groups and it was super interesting to see how you would brand your company towards essentially parents because it's for kids and I think it's really interesting to see how you brand your products and how you would brand a business to your consumers. And then in the third quarter you do the buying project and this is about how you would source products, you buy a product from any shop and then you have to research into how it was made, who produced it, where it was made and yeah, pretty much everything about it, every seam, everything and it is very research heavy but it is super interesting and it's really good to realise that your clothes have a long road ahead of them before they make it to your hands. And then the fourth quarter is the materials project and you have the opportunity to innovate new materials and research into solutions that are currently facing the world. So for example a group made a bio-plastic from I think potato or cornstarch because you know plastic is really bad for the environment. So it's actually really gives you the opportunity to be creative within the projects but it's creative thinking more than design wise so I think that's important to remember. So some of the courses you get, in first year you get quite a lot more classes than in second year. First year you take commerce, basic textiles, business English, farming constructions, then obviously all the projects, you learn how to research, how to write a proper research report and then a little bit of mathematics and of course, as I said, basic textiles. So commerce goes into the in-depth, a little bit of accounting, a little bit of how marketing is done and what type of business is what. And then basic textiles is sort of in-depth into how textiles are produced and made and what machines are used and the different fibres and what properties certain fibres have over others. So it's really useful and super interesting but it is a lot of studying to do as well. In second year you still have basic textiles but then you focus more on the projects. We have English and sometimes garment constructions but yeah, garment construction is obviously how to sew a garment properly, how to create a technical pack that you would send to suppliers so that someone else can make the garment that you have designed which is super important and super fun. Interesting. And then years two to four. In second year you have the same four projects but sort of in a different aspect of it so we had the buying project and then we had to design a piece, a garment or a product and we had to create the technical pack and send it to our partner university in Bangladesh. There were loads, there was Vietnam, China, really there was loads of partners and they had to be able to create the product that we wanted from our technical pack and from speaking to us. So I think it's really useful because you get cultural communication training basically because you're talking to another country's students and you're finding out how they see our designs and how you have to communicate with them to get what you want in the end which is super important because the fashion industry mostly produces in other countries anyway. And then third year and fourth year you have the choice to structure sort of how you want so you have to do your smart solutions, your minor. Also you don't have to do a minor, it's optional. And internship and your thesis. So your thesis has to come last at the end of fourth year. So the other three you can structure how you want it to and your minor has so many exciting opportunities because you have the options to go abroad. Saxon has so many partners like all over the world. You can go to Canada, you can go to Italy. It's really like up to you where you want to go. And then for your internship also it's really up to you where you want to go and if you want to go abroad there's a lot of opportunities within the Netherlands to do your internship as well. And Saxon obviously has a database with all the internship possibilities that companies are looking for interns and I think they really do like Saxon students because we have so much knowledge about so many different like spheres within the course. The smart solution semester, that again it's structured in third or fourth year depending how you want to structure your two years. The smart solution is a semester where you have a group of students from a whole bunch of different studies and you have to come together and create a solution for a problem. So for example I saw a group made a dress for when you're feeling unsafe and it would like close. It was super interesting and super like high tech but it's really that's the opportunity to be creative and to be innovative. So you really do have the opportunity in Saxon to be creative and expand your knowledge. Because the study at Saxon is really broad what you can become one day is really like I think what you take from the study I know a lot of people come into the study thinking it's design and then realizing it's a lot more than that and it's not even really much design. It's not a fashion design school, it's fashion and textiles and I think it concentrates on an industry professional. Some students have gone and worked for Tommy Hilfiger they've gone to work at Aridas or they become quality managers so that means you test fabrics and test products to see if they meet quality standards. You can become a material developer because that's a huge focus in our study about how to develop new textiles in the future. The lessons in the study you have a couple of lessons a week it's normally not more than 30 students per teacher it's really nice that you can get personal attention if you need it, if you need to ask questions it's a lot easier. It is a lot of self study I would say they usually expect you to do a lot of work on your own and that is a huge part of it but they are always there to help you and then you have an individual study coach and you have all these meetings with them every quarter and to see how you're doing, if you have any problems you can always go to your study coach and they're always really welcoming and super nice they're like our fashion and textiles parent the teachers are all super nice, super helpful and they all have had experience in the fashion industry or in their sphere of textiles and yeah they're super, they're always there to help you they're really nice and I never feel like I can't ask questions or I never feel like I'm scared of anyone they're all so nice and they're really good at what they do when they really do care about the students and they really do want us to succeed Personally what makes this course interesting to me is the huge aspect of sustainability it forms a huge part of the study and I think it's really important because the fashion industry is one of the worst industries on the planet, it is the second most polluting industry after the oil industry so I think sustainability should be a huge part and we need to fix what's wrong with the industry and I think it's actually really enforces that and I like the fact that we learn so many different aspects it almost feels like if you were to start a business you have like a slight idea I don't really think, I don't know but I think you have quite a good idea of what you would need to do to get what you want Thank you so much for watching and if you want any more information you can search on Saxion under fashion and textile technologies I hope to see you here Hello, my name is Jan Casulagi and I'm teaching buying and sustainability at the fashion and textile course of Saxion Fashion and textiles is a truly unique course in which you can only do in Enschede We have a long history of more than 100 years of textile education in the 20th region The focus of the study has always been the materials and its diverse end users such as fashion, work wear, functional wear or interior textiles Many of the teaching staff have a long history and experience in the industry as well Over the years the bachelor study has evolved into a modern bachelor course with a high focus on sustainability The first year of the bachelor study gives you an introduction on the supply chain of the fashion and textile industry You will learn all the details about making a garment from raw materials, yarn making, dyeing and finishing up until the making of the garment itself Besides that, you will also be attending subjects on a commercial side of the business and getting to know what it takes to interpret market trends, consumer profiles and translate them into a commercial collection In addition to the theoretical modules you will also be conducting project work In teams of six to eight students you will be conducting projects along the three pillars of the education which are commerce, collection and materials The study year consists of four quartiles of ten weeks each The trip ten week period consists of eight weeks of lessons and two weeks of finishing and rounding up the quartile In terms of subjects you will be teaching all the details about the theory of making a textile product which varies from raw materials such as cotton, polyester changing them into yarn creating a fabric, dyeing and finishing them cutting and making a garment out of it In the second year you will eventually be going into more depth on the topics that you have been given in the first year In the projects you will be getting even more real life case studies which will help you to understand what it takes to work in the fashion and textile industry At the end of the second year you will be finishing off with a great fashion and textile event where you will be showcasing all the things that you have learned in the past two years and you can invite your family and friends onwards you are going to determine more of your own path You can either determine to do an internship first or go on an exchange minor or do the smart solution semester at Suction The smart solution semester is an interdisciplinary semester whereby you will be working with different Suction courses together on solving real life problems for clients and companies 60 to 70 percent of our student population decides to actually do an exchange minor inside or outside of Europe and they can go and study at one of our partner universities either in Europe or in the Far East This is a great benefit for you since you will already be exposed to the international nature of the fashion and textile industry The fashion and textile course will be finished with a thesis study whereby you will be doing a research project for six months at a company and thereby obtaining the diploma of the fashion and textile course You can do an internship at one of the companies over here in the Netherlands or you could also prefer to do your internship at a foreign company abroad which will help you to also understand the nature of the international fashion and textile industry At Suction you will be getting a study coach The study coach is going to help you monitor the progress of your study and at certain time when you have to make study decisions he or she will help you to make the right decision The smart solution semester is a unique opportunity to actually work beyond your own study and collaborate with students from other courses at Suction Suction has decided that it's very important that all of our students are exposed to interdisciplinary work and because the problems of this world cannot be solved by one discipline itself a true collaboration is needed and this is an exciting period whereby you will be challenged to work alongside with students from other courses The lessons are being offered either through theoretical modules in groups of 16 to 32 students In addition the project work consists a lot of self-study whereby the groups of 6 to 8 students will be working together in a group and performing a lot of exercises At the end of the study and when you are graduated you are being prepared for one of the three pillars where you are able to work as a professional commerce, collection or materials Examples of job titles in the commerce area are buying or production coordinator Examples of job titles in materials are materials engineer or materials quality specialist and examples of job titles in collection are pattern maker or product developer There are quite a few companies existing in the Netherlands especially in the western part of the Netherlands There are lots of big fashion brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, the Heyman or the Bajnkov where you can actually start working on the buying department In addition there are a lot of companies which are private so called private label companies and there are also opportunities On the other hand there are technical organizations such as Tenkater Textiles where you can also work as a materials engineer Suction is stimulating entrepreneurship a lot and students that have great ideas to actually start up their own business are able to actually follow specific semesters at the Suction Startup Center Here you learn what it takes to start up your own business A good example of such an entrepreneur is Laura Schneiders She graduated two years ago at the Fashion and Textile course She started up her own webshop in sustainable fashion brands There are a lot of challenges in the fashion and textile industry such as the environmental challenges and also social responsibility challenges I think today's world really offers an opportunity for new students to be part of that change and the change that is necessary to make the fashion and textile industry a more responsible industry and we are more than happy to support you on that with this great course So thank you for watching this video If you have further questions please go to our website where you find a lot more detailed information about this exciting course