Every year, VSC gets so many fashion graduates from elite design schools reaching out to us for assistance but, painfully, it is often far too late because they have no money left to enrol in our Fashion Design Long Programs.  VSC is not a non-profit organization nor a charity; therefore, if you are a fashion graduate that got screwed over by your fashion school, we cannot help you to recover the money taken by your design school.  Quite often, we ask these fashion graduates why they did not come to Vancouver Sewing Classes in the first place to get their technical skills training, instead of investing all of their money into a fashion institution, and their answer is always the same: because their fashion school is very posh, pretty and offers a degree.  So, we ask these fashion graduates, “How did that fashion degree/diploma help you with your job search?”  And their answer is always the same: “I couldn’t get a job in the fashion industry”.

Ironically, even with their most prestigious, posh fashion degree/diploma, these fashion graduates are still unable to get their foot in the door or find employment in the fashion industry because they don’t have the right set of technical skills to offer to their employers.  It is very disturbing to witness these victims getting stabbed in the back by the fashion schools they graduated from.  Regrettably, these fashion graduates have already dug themselves into a very deep hole and there is nothing they can do about it.  Sadly, they will have to live with this big mistake for the rest of their lives, which is going to have a great impact on their mental health and well-being.  Over the years, we have warned many people not to get themselves into the web of lies spun by these fancy fashion design schools, but so many have refused to listen to our advice and end up getting burned badly.  Even as I write this now, many people are still repeating these mistakes and getting caught in the same vicious cycle.  Perception will become a reality for many of these fashion design students when they graduate from their pricey and poshy design schools.  They are going to learn the most difficult, expensive, and painful lesson of their lifetime.

– Chris Falcon is a Canadian designer and fashion educator with over 35 years of experience in the garment design and manufacturing business.