The London College of Style

The fashion industry is known for breeding and boasting some of the most fierce and ferocious talented creative types. The door to the industry does not open easily. Rather than aiming to get one foot in the door, you need to bring enough confidence, skill and determination to boot it clean off it’s hinges.

To ensure you hone your skills and are appropriately prepared for a career in such a competitive industry, many aspiring individuals head for undergraduate courses that cover a broad spectrum of educational, theoretical and practical elements.

Born out of a lack of professional and vocational courses concerned with fashion styling, The London College of Style aims to be a centre of excellence for fashion styling education by offering students a new 12-week intensive course that focuses on the vocational aspects of styling and preparing its students for the intense and overwhelming demands of the industry.

Founder and lecturer Wendy Elsmore explains: ‘The 12-week course is very intensive. It’s designed to challenge and motivate. I feel it is long enough. As a fashion stylist, I think it’s far too long to study for three years. 12 weeks of brilliant study sets up the right mindset which is so important for being a fashion stylist.

‘In the three years that a student is in education, I bet your bottom dollar that some of my students will be much further down the line. Our industry is not impressed by qualifications, it’s really about what you’ve done, who’ve you’ve worked with and the level of work you are capable of.’

Wendy Elsmore, aside from setting up the style establishment, has carved out an extremely successful career within fashion, including six years as a fashion expert on ITV’s This Morning. But what encouraged a woman at the top of her game to become involved in fashion education, enabling the fashion stylists of tomorrow?

‘I never intended to have a successful career.’ Wendy explains. ‘I’ve known what it’s like to be at the very beginning. For the last couple of years, I’ve thought [regarding fashion courses] if this could be taught in the right way, wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to teach the right skillset because there are so many courses that aren’t right. The amount of emphasis you place on a certain aspect is vital. I’ve got to the point where I’ve done everything that I can do. How lucky am I and how brilliant would it be to pass that on?

‘I wanted to put together a course that I felt worked perfectly as an access into the fashion industry, more because I’d known the enormous amount of effort it had taken me over a number of years to become a fashion stylist. I was treading water for so long and really not knowing how to progress.’

Students who study at The London College of Style will work with lecturers from the fashion elite, who will pass on their years of wisdom to the potential new faces in fashion styling. When selecting the team, Wendy had to ensure that aside from being the cream of the fashion crop, they would also excel as teachers.

‘I’ve met so many fantastically skilled and brilliant teachers along the way and I wanted to bring them together. It takes a certain skillset to be a great teacher. You can be a great visual stylist but to be a great teacher, you have to be able to impart knowledge in a way that’s interesting and makes people really want to learn.

‘So we took a long time choosing our team of lecturers. We looked at a lot of people and even though they were extremely skilled at what they do, they have to be able to stand up in front of a our lovely students and make a lesson really exciting. I wanted a great mix of people, really bubbly, hardcore, motivating, exciting and I think hopefully that’s what we’ve achieved.’

First and foremost, Wendy notes Gary Page, who she credits for being ‘one of the most talented and gorgeous people and the fact that he’s there to pass on his skill and his knowledge to our students is second-to-none.

‘To my mind, he’s creatively brilliant and his way of speaking is so gorgeous. He was one of the teachers who at school you would have remembered. When he speaks, he literally makes you go silent. He’s all the things you would want your teacher to be.’

Speaking about the styling course, Gary echoes Wendy’s views on the importance of vocational education, saying: ‘Fashion styling is notoriously hard to break into and it’s courses like this that nurture talent and point people in the right direction. Many people underestimate the amount of knowledge needed to be a great stylist and The London College of Style course give students a great base upon which to grow.’

Also amongst the impressive array of teachers is Selena Francis-Bryden, Garment Customisation and Personalisation Expert, whose work has featured on Sex and the City and sold in Top Shop and Miss Selfridge. As if that wasn’t enough to whet your style appetite, her clients also include Dolce & Gabbana and Paul Smith.

There’s also British eyewear brand Oliver Goldsmith, who has created glasses and sunglasses for style legends like Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren, not to mention fashion labels such as Dior, Givenchy and Vidal Sassoon. Representatives from the brand will be teaching the importance of fashion styling within marketing and brand development.

Claire Angel, Freelance Lecturer in Fashion and Design, whose previous roles include teaching at Central St Martins, Chelsea College of Art and Design, Royal College of Art, University of Westminster and Ravensbourne College of Art, will also be teaching on the course and Wendy claims that the lecturer’s vast knowledge will ensure a series of ‘exciting stories’.

Another important aspect of the college is the E-Learning course, available to students who are not able to study within London. Wendy speaks highly of this exciting opportunity: ‘If you cant attend the college it doesn’t compromise the learning and you still have access to all the same coursework. You still have to meet our exact standards which is what we feel is required by the fashion industry. We have many students studying at the moment and we’re getting fantastic feedback. So I would highly recommended that to anyone who lives too far to get to London, who lives abroad.’

The 12-week foundation course is one day a week either Saturday or Wednesday and costs £3407.50. The next courses start on Saturday 8 January and Wednesday 12 January . The college’s E-Learning course costs £880.

So if you’re an aspiring fashion stylist looking for a way into the industry, this really does seem like a fantastic opportunity and a great first step.

The London College of Style
The Worx
10 Heathmans Road
Parsons Green
SW6 4TJ

Tel: 0844 879 7435