Katharine Giles has been involved in all aspects of the fashion industry for over 25 years. Her love of fashion began at a young age, inspired by her talented seamstress mother, who designed and made her own beautiful clothing.
Katharine studied Fashion Design and Styling and began her professional fashion career as a cutter and patternmaker. She designed and managed womenswear fashion ranges for several brands, supplying retailers globally. Building and leading design teams through these years, Katharine attained extensive experience in fabric sourcing and initiating and implementing off-shore development programs.
Katharine has worked as a buyer and fashion forecaster for major retailers, responsible for identifying and interpreting market trends. Fashion design has seen her travel extensively with sourcing and research trips to Europe, America, and Asia.
An experienced stylist of advertisements and catalogues and with her knowledge of fit and a love of creating looks, it was a natural progression for Katharine to immerse herself in personal styling, working with clients to provide a co-ordinated range of clothes and accessories to suit body shape and colour.
Katharine continues to work on her own projects. She brings a wealth of experience and flair to her tutoring work and is excited to share her extensive knowledge with the students at The Fashion Design Institute.
After leaving school, I studied design at an art school. My real passion was fashion, and I would sew my designs in my spare time. After a year at art school, I was accepted into fashion design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne. The course allowed me to learn the technical and creative skills required to pursue a career in fashion.
Throughout my career in the industry, I enjoyed mentoring the design teams I worked with. It was a natural progression for me to become a fashion design tutor in a field I love and to pass on knowledge gained in my many different roles and ultimately help my students achieve their goals.
One of the essential qualities for success as a fashion designer is organisational skills. There are so many components that go into constructing a garment, and a good designer needs to be across all of them especially when it comes to production. A knowledge of fabrics and the way they perform is essential as are patternmaking and sewing skills. It also helps to have an eye for detail and an awareness of new technologies that are affecting the way we make and create garments.
I loved my role as a product manager, working with design teams and production to produce four collections a year. In many of my roles, I have been involved in styling for advertising shoots and catalogues which led me to study styling.
To encourage students to get the most out of their learning process and develop the skills they need to be creative and successful designers. To teach the relevance of technical knowledge in the creative process.
After completing my fashion design course, my first job was working on a cutting table and later as a design assistant in a factory. I learnt so much from that experience of working in a factory. To see first-hand how a garment is produced from design to delivery was very beneficial. My focus, therefore, is on the basics of sewing, garment construction, patternmaking, and textiles. Each is an essential element in creating and designing a garment. The most successful designers are those who are not only creative but understand the technical side.
My design style has changed over time as have my influences. I enjoy playing with proportion, colour, and embellishments and creating versatile pieces. Good design needs to have a wow factor but also should be comfortable to wear.
I follow my favourite designers and take inspiration from their seasonal collections and runway shows. I’m interested in street style and have a love of fashion history, which inspires me.
Getting to know my students and their interests. I enjoy receiving replies to my welcome letter from my students explaining their reasons for taking the course. I hope to provide encouragement and to be able to pass on some of the knowledge I have gained from working in the fashion industry. I enjoy seeing everything that has been learnt in the course come together in the final assignment when the students design their capsule collections.
The mistake I see often is questions are misinterpreted. My advice would be to read the questions and make sure you understand what is being asked of you. Most of the answers can be found in the module and there is always the option available to reach out and ask your tutor.
The assignment work in the last module is an opportunity to showcase your design skills. Even though you are not asked to submit sketches for the final assignment, I would take it as an opportunity to start getting your portfolio together. Part B of the module on fashion sketching and illustration is another assignment that could be used for a portfolio.
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