Alex Anh ~ Dream College Alert!

Have you been dreaming of a career in fashion but you are not quite sure where to start? At The Cut Fashion Academy we can show you firsthand how participating in one of our many courses can ignite your career in ways you can’t even imagine. 

This week we speak with Alex (Nguyen Quoc Huy Anh) one of our full-time students who was accepted into the highly prestigious London College of Fashion. 8-months ago, Alex chose to kickstart his career in fashion and became a full-time student at The Cut Fashion Academy - allowing himself to be fully immersed in the fashion world, refining his skills, and creating his vision with our stellar team.

With no previous experience in fashion, his decision to pursue his dream and enroll in The Cut Fashion Academy has led him to be chosen to fill one of the internationally coveted spots in London College of Fashion. Here he will be enrolled in the Foundation course, a 4-year course where he will learn research and development in design. 

Joining the Academy helped a lot with Alex’s portfolio preparation. Prior to his enrollment he had zero experience with the fashion world. It all started here at the academy, where our incredible team helped guide and develop Alex’s skillset. 

Finding Inspiration in Design

According to Alex, inspiration is specific to each individual. He finds inspiration from himself, from everyday life, from his stories, from his friends. His experience with depression has inspired a lot of his work. Expression through art helps him feel recognized by others and it helps him feel seen. When Alex enrolled in our full-time creative design diploma course, it gave him a medium in which to demonstrate his creativity in a way he never did before. This allowed him to delve wholeheartedly into his portfolio in ways he could not have imagined. 

When it came to the fundamentals of his portfolio, for Alex the content just happened naturally, according to what interested him at the time. He arranged his portfolio by choosing his favourite concepts and then the portfolio unfolds from there.

So let’s take a look at Alex’s portfolio as he shares his concepts and inspiration with us: 

Summer is over, 2018 

“I was inspired by the feelings I had for a girl. When people look at these photo’s I want people to feel warmth, infatuation and lust. Unattainable infatuation. I admire from afar. I dreamed for myself a false reality of this girl I loved who didn’t really love me back.”

We All Gonna Die, 2018

“This concept was inspired by depression. This poster is intended to send a message to everyone. Depression happens to everyone no matter their age, no matter who they are. It is a reminder that we are all gonna die but to remember that we are all in this together. Don’t feel alone.”

Light, 2019

“I was inspired by a story of a girl who went through a lot of struggles and how she learned to love herself again. These images capture her growing through struggles. The first images represent a time when she was in Vietnam, she was lost and uncertain. The next part of the story shows the girl in a new place, a new world but still not happy, still not satisfied, still disappointed. She has no hope and still feels just a lost as ever. Her story progressed into the next part of the imagery. She has a revelation that all change and any chance of hope comes from within. That she is not perfect and that is okay, she begins to learn to love every part of herself again, even the parts that to her are imperfect. The next part shows the girl fully immersed in the present. She loves herself now. She learned to overcome the hurt and pain and she is happy now. There is no more shame, no more meaninglessness. And lastly, the final part of the imagery shows that she’s strong and confident. She has fully embraced herself and shows an air of self-belief that she always wanted.”

Feedback is Essential to the Process

We believe that feedback is an essential factor in helping students elevate their game. Throughout the process of creating their portfolio, our staff helps students refine and expand on their creative visions. Alex was no different. Our team of experts helped guide his concepts from the outset and help develop the portfolio that earned him a place in LCF. For Alex feedback is very important. He says “I usually take as much feedback as possible, write it all down, and then analyze it when I get home. I like to go through the feedback and choose what I think could improve my work, and if I feel it won’t improve my work then I choose not to implement it. I always welcome feedback, even if I don’t agree with it, it’s good to get different perspectives.”

If the feedback is in line with what he has already envisioned he will incorporate it if I feel it improves work. For him,  constructive criticism is important if it means he can improve in any way and get better at what he creates.

Lastly, we spoke with Alex about the creative process and what it means to him. 

“In the design world, it’s the same thing for everyone. You start off with inspiration build up from that inspiration. Create a mood board to establish the concept, research the concept you have chosen and then start sketching, designing and creating. If I don’t feel inspired I will choose a different concept that inspires me more.”

If Alex’s story has inspired you to kickstart your career in fashion please do not hesitate to get in touch. Our team would welcome the opportunity to guide your decision and help you choose the course that is best suited to your vision.

Sign up for a class today and ignite your career in fashion!

Written by Melissa Hegarty | www.melissahegarty.com