Dundee student heading to mill

A DUNDEE student studying fashion and textiles at Robert Gordon University’s (RGU) Gray’s School of Art has won an exclusive placement opportunity with Scottish woollen mill Johnstons of Elgin.

Callum Donnan, 22, was selected as the winner of a live project in collaboration with Johnstons and will now take up a two-week paid placement at the company’s base in Hawick.

As part of the project, the students were required to come up with concepts for clothing which reflected the brief title of ‘Making It Personal’, designing a range of styles on paper before translating them into samples and final garments.

A judging panel from Johnstons visited RGU to meet with the students and see their designs and work, when they announced Callum the overall winner.

Callum said: “My design was based on the buildings in my hometown of Dundee. I took inspiration from the way the council patches up buildings that were starting to decay or were lying empty.

“Overall I tried to make the garment look beautiful but in the detail, each patch was there to represent a place in Dundee which I did not want to be forgotten.

“Working on a live project was daunting at first, but with research and an understanding of the company you are designing for, I found it more motivating than anything. I always made sure I followed the client’s advice when designing for them.”