Fashion-Up Beyond Borders: Project Promotion During Job Shadowing in China

Between 26 November and 6 December, representatives of both Polish partners of the Fashion-Up project took part in job shadowing activities in vocational schools in Ningbo, China — a city with a strongly developed fashion and textile industry.

The Polish delegation included Dr Paulina Bilska-Marek from the MODE Foundation and teachers from Secondary School No. 5 in Wałbrzych – Paweł Grabiński and Grzegorz Druczak. The project partner for this activity was Zhejiang Fashion Institute of Technology, a vocational education institution specialising in fashion, design, garment technologies and the promotion of fashion products.

Job shadowing in a vocational education environment

The programme was based on the job shadowing format, allowing participants to observe the daily work of teaching staff and the organisation of practical training. During the stay, the participants followed classes related to:

• fashion design and creative processes,

• stages of collection development from concept to implementation,

• the use of technical facilities and specialised workshops,

• methods of presenting and promoting fashion products.

All observations were conducted in real educational settings and included both practical classes and organisational aspects of vocational education in the fashion sector.

Presentation of the Fashion-Up project

During the stay, a presentation of the Fashion-Up project was delivered to the staff of Zhejiang Fashion Institute of Technology as well as directors of vocational schools from Ningbo. The presentation focused on the project’s assumptions and thematic scope, with particular attention given to fashion, design and promotion-related topics.

The project attracted significant interest from the audience, reflected in numerous follow-up discussions and questions after the presentation.

Summary of activities

The job shadowing activities in Ningbo constituted an independent action, carried out outside the main project activities; however, the stay was used as an opportunity to promote the Fashion-Up project and its core themes beyond Poland, within the context of vocational education linked to fashion and creative industries.

During the visit, the project’s assumptions and thematic focus were presented, which enabled its dissemination among representatives of educational institutions operating within a strongly developed fashion industry environment.