How fashion schools are responding to the Covid-19 pandemic
WITH the education directives in the country as confusing as its Covid-19 policies, fashion designers and the fashion schools they are steering are resorting to creative ways to respond to the pandemic. For safety measures, physical classes will be postponed or reset to online forums while other parameters are still under review.
■ SHANON PAMAONG AND THE FASHION INSTITUTE OF THE PHILIPPINES. “Just like any other business and schools, fashion schools like FIP are greatly affected by the pandemic. We teach hands-on courses where we instructors show procedures step by step, then the students actually execute what is being taught and immediately checked and corrected by the instructor if needed,” Pamaong explained.
“So virtual or online instructions will not work for us and the students. A module is long, requiring a day of instruction/learning process and it is tiring and boring to be in front of your computers that long. Dividing the module into mini modules will take the teaching/learning process forever. We have no alternative but to wait for the government to give us the go-signal to reopen,” said Pamaong, who studied fashion courses at the George Brown College in Toronto, Canada, and apprenticed in Paris at fashion manufacturing and fashion houses.
At FIP’S campuses in Ortigas, Makati, Santa Rosa, Subic and Cebu, his prominent faculty members are Patrick Lazol, Wilbur Lang (Bobson Japan awardee), Bon Hansen (Bench Design awardee), Jojo Lopez, Hazel Ycasiano, Yssa Innumerable, Jeremiah Oribe, Ge-c Macaraig, Mark Neto Diaz for fashion photography, and Francis Chee and Vhee Co for fashion styling.
“Even during the pandemic, we are getting advance enrollments from interested students hoping classes to start soon to end their quarantine boredom. In short, we are very confident that our business will be able to bounce back, unlike restaurants or stores which practically lost income from their March-june customers,” he said.
“In our case, our hope is that those who were not able to take courses with us from March to June will be there to join us during the new normal. Our very challenge is to get good rental arrangements with our landlords when classes return.”
■ LESLEY MOBO AND THE MINT SCHOOL OF FASHION. Lesley Mobo graduated with a First Class B.A. Honours Degree in Fashion at Central Saint Martins London in 2002 with a Colin Barnes Award for fashion illustration. Armed with a stellar résumé, Mobo pitched his idea of a four-year fashion program to the Meridian International Business, Arts and Technology College, in Mckinley Hill, Taguig City.
“Mint is already doing a great job with their other colleges that teach film, music and theater. The Mint fashion school is what we have created together, [with the purpose of having] something like a Council of Fashion Designers of America/vogue Fashion Fund, or the British Fashion Council’s Newgen initiative,” Mobo told me previously.
But as the pandemic shows no signs of abating, Mobo said: “Right now, everything is still a work in progress but definitely [shifting to] online/distant learning classes. A lot of stuff are all still in discussion including what parameters [to adapt]. But it seems everything is heading toward online.”
■ JESUS “JOJIE” LLOREN AND THE FAB (FASHION +
ART + BUSINESS) CREATIVES MANILA. “It was studying Clothing Technology at the University of the Philippines that gave me the foundation that enabled me to embark on a fashion career. Ecole de Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne broadened it further. Christian Espiritu, who I regard as my mentor, polished my aesthetics and opened my eyes to the real world of the fashion business,” Lloren said of his fashion education.
With this remarkable background, he opened FAB with his friend Pidge Reyes and enlisted his peers as teachers.
But Covid-19 reared its ugly head. “The pandemic has put to a halt operations of most businesses, FAB included. We still have to think of monthly expenses like rent, utilities, salaries, etc., with no income coming in. Initially, we dreaded that students will shift to other courses because of fashion being classified as a nonessential. But, as history would tell us, fashion has always survived crises,” Lloren said.
FAB is preparing ways to adapt to the new normal. “We restudied our business plan and explored other platforms of teaching. Of course, we are adapting to government policies in terms of setup and safety. To lower operating cost, the moving of our school’s physical space was decided on,” he shared.
“We have started an online workshop and will be offering more that can be effectively taught in this platform. We redesigned the syllabi to be relevant to the times.” ■