Sophie Prentice

What made you want to study your course at the University?

I studied Maths, Physics and Textiles at A-level and initially my plan was to continue the Textiles element of my studies and study Fashion Design. However, after researching different university courses, I decided that the Fashion Marketing courses were a better fit - particularly as I enjoy a balance between academic and creative study.

I knew as soon as I came to Leeds that it was the place for me. The course was my clear favourite of those I had looked at, and so I was hoping everything else on my visit would live up to it. I loved the campus and the city, and all the teaching staff were lovely. One thing I particularly liked about the School of Design at Leeds was its location in the centre of the university, as this was not the case at the other universities I visited. I think it’s exciting to study a design-based subject in a city that was built on the Textiles industry!

Describe the aspects of the course that you have enjoyed the most. 

One aspect of my course that I really enjoyed was my final year Fashion Styling and Photography module. I have always enjoyed photography, and studied photography modules in both first and second year. However, the third year module was particularly interesting to me as it focused specifically on fashion photography, and required us to style and photograph a new campaign based on an existing brand. I loved this module as it was so different from my others, and allowed me to be extremely creative. I enjoyed the whole process from the research and journal development, to test shoots, styling sessions and creation of the final images.

Another aspect of my course that I enjoyed the most was the chance to do a year in industry. I knew from first year that it was something I definitely wanted to do, and it didn’t disappoint! I learned so much and it helped me a lot with my confidence, and with my studies in final year. Now, as a graduate, I am also seeing how invaluable the experience was as so many jobs expect a lot of past experience.  

Tell us more about your year in industry.

For my year in industry I worked at the head office of British fashion brand L.K.Bennett, in Shoreditch, London. I worked in their PR and Marketing department for just over ten months and then an additional six weeks in their E-commerce department. 

In the PR team I worked on product send outs for journalists and stylists, and also helped to facilitate the brand’s gifting scheme to VIPs and influencers. One of my favourite elements of PR and Marketing is events, and I was able to assist with two launch events for a product collaboration, several in-store events for VIP customers and also help out on the seasonal press days.

On the e-commerce side I worked a lot on the brand’s social media, designing and creating posts for Facebook and Twitter, and helped out with photoshoots for Instagram. I also wrote creative briefs for both emails and style inspiration content for the website, as well as assisting with website product launches.

I cannot recommend doing a year in industry enough! It helped me to grow in confidence; vastly improved my knowledge of the industry; greatly assisted my final year studies, particularly my dissertation; and showed me the type of career I would like to aim for in the future. 

What are you planning to do once you graduate?

Now that I have graduated I am looking to commence my full-time career in the fashion industry. I thoroughly enjoyed my placement, working in PR and Marketing, and I think that this is the area I would now like to work in.