Global streetwear retailer provides real-world experience

A brand collaboration which has supported talented fashion students towards successfully securing jobs in the industry has been launched for the third consecutive year at Northumbria University.

The latest instalment of the size? syllabus, which provides the opportunity to nurture young creatives through live projects which are now being run at selected UK universities in partnership with the global clothing and footwear retailer, was officially launched at Northumbria with a visit from the company’s Senior Talent and Community Manager, Daniel Langhorn.

Final year students studying Fashion Communication and Fashion Design and Marketing within the Northumbria School of Design, have been set the task of developing a marketing campaign outlining how size? could best collaborate with the international footwear brand, Vans. The company was involved in writing the brief and will be reviewing the results.

“With face-to-face visits and industry-level access, guidance and critique, universities involved in our Syllabus programme are given a unique opportunity to work with us in total collaboration to provide students with a guaranteed live brief,” explained Daniel.

“These ideas can and have then manifested into real-world nationwide campaigns for size?, as demonstrated last year with Northumbria graduate Sophie Clayton, who took part in the Syllabus and is now employed by size? directly due to her involvement. This year with the involvement of Vans, it adds another dimension to what students can create and most importantly, Vans will be receiving the final submissions.”

Sophie, who graduated from the Fashion Communication course last summer, managed to impress with a campaign idea she created for her own live project, called Ask the Question, which was transformed into a social media campaign by the company to coincide with World Mental Health Day in October.

She has since secured a role as a Brand Account Assistant Apprentice with size? and joined Daniel and fellow Northumbria Fashion Communication graduate, Cameron Poole, to speak to current students to launch this year’s live project.

Speaking about her time as a student, Sophie said: “When I was doing my own live project, I researched the size? brand values, and realised they really aligned with my own. It helped me identify lots of opportunities to create a unique and impactful campaign that would resonate with a young audience.

“When size? brought my concept to life to help encourage everyone to talk about their mental health, it really helped to bring exposure to the portfolio I had built throughout university. It’s massively important for large and influential brands to fuel the important conversation around mental health and help to break the taboo so I’m really excited to be working with them.”

Since graduating in 2019, Cameron’s work with size? has seen him become actively involved in developing the Syllabus and he now works as a Social Media Executive. He also maintains his links with Northumbria as an Associate Lecturer on the Fashion Communication programme.

Cameron said; “Experiencing first-hand the advantages of us working with the students has really opened my eyes to the direct impact that student participation has to our marketplace. Seeing an idea generated from tutorials to then become a real-life campaign whilst the students receive full recognition has been incredible.”

Gayle Cantrell, Head of Subject for Fashion at Northumbria, said: “We are delighted to be involved with the size? syllabus again this year, giving our students the opportunity to engage in projects with a real-world, tangible context.

“The company’s iconic status and authentic commitment to their values really appeals to our students and underpins key themes in our programme. The honest, constructive support and feedback they have received on their projects has been amazing and has given them confidence to develop really strong work for their portfolios.

“The fact we now have two graduates employed by the size? team shows what a great opportunity this is. We’re looking forward to continuing our collaboration in the future.”

Sarah Walton, Programme Leader for Fashion Design and Marketing, said: “This is a fantastic live project running once again with a global retailer which gives students an opportunity to augment their portfolio in a way which demonstrates their ability to respond to an industry brief.

“To have the support of an organisation like size? when it comes to securing real-world experience and employability skills for our students, is really invaluable.”

Programmes at Northumbria School of Design cover industrial, fashion, communication and innovation design. Find out more here about study options.