ONE OF the most highly anticipated events of the fashion year was held in Winchester last week.

‘The Fashion Event 2014: Careers in the Fashion Industry’ was held at the Winchester School of Art on Thursday (February 27), and included presentations from key people across the fashion industry.

As part of the Fashion Marketing/Management programme, the event welcomed Matthew Zorpas of thegentlemenblogger.com, author and fashion researcher Marco Pedroni, fashion buyer Jane Brockbank and senior HR professionals from NEXT head office.

The Westside Gallery was taken over from 1pm-6pm with presentations from not only the professionals, but also the students, who showcased the transferrable skills the programme has to offer.

Course leader, Amanda Bragg-Mollison, launched the annual event in 2012 and said she thinks the event is well-positioned to highlight possible careers for students when they leave education.

She said: “The innovative fashion marketing/management programme balances business and creativity; as such our students are well placed to gain employment as the economy becomes more reliant on creative thinkers to compete in many sectors operating within new and fast changing business models of the ‘Creative Economy’.

“We have had amazing feedback from industry about the programme to date, and we continue to push the boundaries to meet the needs of the industry, and to support our students to get the roles they want when they leave.”

The event drew to a close with a drinks reception and networking opportunity.