What's Your Story?

It is satisfying to hear students at MakeFashion Edu events ask each other, “What’s your story?” and then listen carefully to the response. It is no longer the ubiquitous question we hear at Halloween, “What are you supposed to be?”

At this point, you may want to start having designers think about the story they want to tell on the runway. As they continue to develop construction skills, their story can also develop.

It is a process — call it the writing process or design process — to refine a story to the point that the design elements come together to create a garment that tells the story.

Teacher note: It sometimes happens that students have a design idea already and then the story comes afterwards. This isn’t wrong, and students should not be forced into following the standard design process step by step. But they will still need to move the story from their mind into written text, which needs thought and editing.

📄 Worksheet: Writing Prompts (PDF)

Advocacy Angle

We want to encourage young designers to tell the story they want to tell and have ownership of the story and designs. We have found that by asking young designers to think about something that is important to them — whether it be a social cause, a philanthropy, an environmental issue, or a problem to be solved — they learn to use their creativity to go beyond themselves.

Advocacy requires some research to really tell the story and get the correct message across to the audience. The pieces are more nuanced and have more details when the students are passionate about the topic.

📄 Worksheet: Advocacy Prompts (PDF)