Fashion School and the Advantage of Having Industry Experienced Profs in the Classroom

First and foremost, Petey people, I, Vanessa Petey would like to apologize for the delay in blog postings over the past two weeks. I'm back-writing blog posts at home because Meaghan and I continue to live an internet-free existance. We can only hope this nightmare will be over soon. Here's one about professors at the Academy: A shorty, but a goody.

Anyways, having just finished my first week at the Academy of Design here in Toronto, Ontario, I have a few comments to make regarding my enthusiasm toward the fashion design program and the school as a whole. This is not an advertisement for anything specific. I just want to talk about the good fortune of having contact with amazing people plucked directly from the industry and dropped into my classroom with the responsibility of teaching me what I need to know about the fashion industry. The professors are professional, they are real, and they are full of all kinds of knowledge. I talked about a couple of the professors in the program in my previous post about my Construction and Intro to Fashion profs, allow me to elaborate.

One professor that I’m sure will be a favourite is a remarkable man named James Fowler. His opening lecture for Elements of Design knocked me off my feet. He went through the history of style and fashion through the 20^th century and hit all of the key points that I wanted to hear. I’ve never been in a situation (with the exception of Dr. Michael Farrell at the University of Windsor with regard to art history) where I was one of very few in the room who got the references and appreciated the detail. It was fantastic and his own life story was awe inspiring. It was great. Finally, my pattern drafting professor is a woman of strict teaching ability with knowledge spilling out of her every time she opens her mouth. I’m actually pretty excited about pattern drafting, though I'm sure most people think it’s super boring. Maybe I’ll be a pattern drafter at some point on my journey toward life as a designer.

The point is I’m mesmerized by these professors who have the advantage of true industry experience behind them. I want to become a sponge of fashion knowledge, collecting everything they have to say for the benefit of Petey the Troll.

All I can say is that we’ve been in school a total of three days and already Meaghan and I have come home full of ideas and energy for the furthering of our little business. We’re gonna do it, we’re gonna do it!!

PS. Petey the Troll Apparel is in the process of re-designing and re-thinking our image and web site, so temporarily, there is no official Petey the Troll Headquarters. Check out this blog for updates and out Etsy site or Facebook for the photographs of the clothes until further notice!!