Head of Menswear for Debenhams, Julian Fuller, spoke to us about the journey from degree show to department store and how to establish your career in the fashion industry.
Fuller lit up the room with a friendly and comical atmosphere, and talked about how even though he is the straightest man around but caught himself “staring at a guy’s bum, and becoming full of joy to see him modelling my design”. Garments have an 11 month life span from design to finish, the most important stages Fuller mentioned are colour palette, silhouette, key garments, accessories and relevance to the market.
“Designing is about visualising every tiny detail on a product, thinking about what the inside is going to look like as much as the outside”, this technique is necessary in the industry so that when designs reach international production systems everyone can understand exactly how to put the piece together perfectly.
Julian concluded the talk with a Q&A session in which we learned that to be noticed by the high-street, you must put yourself out there. He left us with the message that when applying for careers within the commercial fashion industry it’s important to present a balance of creative visuals, design and drawing with a business mind.
So in the words of Julian Fuller, get yourself out there!
Words by Isabel Woodrow-Young
