Student has designs on WorldSkills domination
A student from Rutherglen has taken a step closer to securing a place at the ‘college education Olympics’ in Abu Dhabi after showing off her visual merchandising skills in front of more than 80,000 spectators at a national competition.
Twenty-year-old Megan O’Mailley, who graduated in summer with HND Display Design at City of Glasgow College, won gold for her work at UK- wide competition The Skills Show – part of the global WorldSkills competition. After success at the Scottish heats in Ayrshire earlier in the year, Megan took her place at the prestigious competition and showcase event at Birmingham’s NEC Arena, which aims to provide hands- on experience that inspires young people to explore further education, skills and apprenticeships.
As part of the Advanced Visual Merchandising competition, Megan, a former pupil at Stonelaw High School, was tested on her prowess in creating a window display using just a limited amount of clothes and materials.
From a supply that comprised mainly brown paper and black bin liners, Megan devised a display that included 100 paper fortune tellers with a self-drawn lotus flower as the backdrop.
Megan said: “When we were working at the competition in Birmingham we really enjoyed it.
“We cultivated the theme of India and fortune and it turned out really well. I drew a lotus flower on the back wall freehand, and we used a dust sheet as a sari on the manikin because the other clothes provided were not great.”
Megan now faces an anxious wait to hear whether or not she is in the running for a place in the WorldSkills UK Squad bound for the Abu Dhabi finals in 2017. She hopes her WorldSkills journey continues, as progress will mean she will once more have the opportunity to work with a mentor who is a leading practitioner in visual merchandising.