Lauren Gordon - MSc International Fashion Business
After a successful undergraduate experience at Gray’s School of Art, Lauren Gordon joined RGU’s School of Creative and Cultural Business to undertake a postgraduate degree in International Fashion Business.
“The pandemic had prevented me from going on placement during my undergraduate course which really set me back after graduation as no company was willing to take me on without experience.
“A friend of mine recommended this postgraduate degree as they had also done the same undergraduate course and had also missed out on a placement. I felt I had developed an array of technical skills with my first course but lacked the business knowledge to sell any products within the industry.
“I was already an alumnus which made it more affordable to go for the course with RGU and the course content covered the areas in the fashion industry I wanted to understand more. The main reason I was attracted to the course however, was the opportunity to secure a work placement in the second semester.”
The 24-year-old clearly had her sights set valuable placement opportunity and used her own initiative to make it happen, something she said “felt amazing”.
“RGU had arranged many guest speakers throughout my time of study and it was through this that introduced me to the potential opportunity for a placement in the next semester. Mr Cotton, formerly CEO of Johnstons of Elgin (one of the biggest Scottish textile manufacturers in the UK), and now CEO of the company Macnaughton Holdings Limited, was one of them. As a guest professor he discussed the plans for the future of the company which I found very interesting.
“The following semester I decided to reach out, originally with the hope of attaining a placement with the design team, but I was offered another opportunity with the newly established marketing team.
“I was very excited as I had not originally considered a career in marketing but it has definitely widened my potential career possibilities. The company was amazing to work for, and the marketing team and the other departments were lovely as the placement allowed for inter-departmental collaboration.
“The company even offered me the opportunity to come back as a summer intern which was amazing as it meant I got to put into practice everything I had learnt in the first placement. The most exciting part of this placement was assisting in the launch of a new brand for the company – Remony - which saw a range of new throws released.”
Other highlights for Lauren included the chance to go to London with classmates; visit a fashion exhibition at the V&A Museum; and attend Christopher Raeburn’s design studio to see and even try on one of the garments from his past collections.
She also took advantage of the support services available to her at the University and is looking forward to what’s to come.
“I used the Study Skills support service which helped when I was struggling with writing my reports for my courses. The support helped me to discover it was not necessarily the written content itself that was the issue but rather the structure of which I present the writing. I am grateful for the team taking the time to explain it to me, as this made my submissions less stressful.
“The course has really heightened my confidence in things I never would have initially tried and I am glad I got the opportunity to do so. I have been able to apply some of that knowledge to my part-time work as well as my internship with Macnaughton’s. Having the confidence to speak about something I am passionate about to other professionals is something I am glad I have been able to develop.
“Currently I am open to both marketing and design opportunities, if I could not or decide not to pursue marketing any further I will try to get an internship that gives me experience in fashion design, particularly pattern drafting.”