FTI: Let's hear it from the teachers! (VII)
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FashionUnited: How did you first become involved with the fashion industry? Was it your calling?
John Boddy: I think that it has a lot to do with when I was born and growing up in the late 80s - early 90s. I grew up in a small town in the North of England which was virtually fashion-less. At 16, I first began noticing these tribes of fashionable people walking around and then I discovered ID-Magazine which made me see that it was my calling. At the time I was doing a course in photography and a friend of mine was studying at Central Saint Martins. I was lucky enough to go into London with her a few times and into CSM and I liked how it felt, very creative. I wanted to be a part of it. I created a design portfolio straight out of my head, had an interview and was lucky enough to get in. I have always been interested in what clothes do to people, why people wear them and what it does to people and more importantly what people do to it. I have worked in styling, costume design, and as a lecturer, but what interests me is how people identify with clothes, how clothes become fashion. I am fascinated with the mystery behind clothes.
When did you start teaching at Falmouth University and what is your role there?
I started teaching at Falmouth University when the course began seven years ago. I had enough of living in London and my partner decided to attend Falmouth University, over the Royal College of Arts in London for his MA. So we moved to Cornwall and I decided to write to the people organizing the course, it was serendipity really. I first began as a lecturer, giving hourly lectures once a week and then I went on to become course coordinator three years ago. This year April I became head of Fashion Design.
What
Chance. I am a firm believer in serendipity and that things happen for a reason. Combined with moving to Cornwall and knowing that I has to keep in interest in clothing and fashion, led to me taking a chance. I wasn't sure if I would love teaching or hate it, or even if I would be good or very bad at its. I just took the chance. I learned as the students were learning. My experience of teaching at CSM was one that was very self-motivational. I learn a lot from watching other students around me work, especially the ones in the years above me. They were the ones that left an impression on me and were my own experience of teaching. So although I knew first hand how its done at the top fashion schools, I had to find a very different way of teaching and discover how we could make our students into the best of the best, the cream de la crop, distinctive from other fashion schools.
What is your opinion of fashion educational institutes in the UK today?
In general we have very good links with all the top fashion colleges in the country, our external examiners meet with them in person and we have one to one conversations to discuss exams, studies and curriculum. But sometimes you have to forget that and focus on how they teach. For example I think that Shelley Fox at Parsons is doing an amazing job with their master program. I am also really interested to see how things will go now that the Royal College of Arts has named Zowie Broach as its head of fashion now that Wendy Dagworthy has left. Actually, it is very interesting to see what is going on at the 'big feeders' at the moment, it almost seems as if they are all going through massive changes at the same time. However the majority of them remain city centric focused when ultimately I am more interested in what other fashion institutes are doing in other locations. To be honest I am more interested in what fashion colleges in the far reaches of Scotland are doing than the ones in the main cities. I believe that students will have different experiences due to their schools geological location. Falmouth University is surround by a lush, green peninsula which I think gives the students space to breath and pause and think about how they can grow and discover who they are. So although Falmouth may not have a very big selection of fashionable or contemporary stores in its city, students have the space to discover fashion in new ways.
Do you think that it is important for fashion educational institutes to remain up to date with trends within the industry?
Yes, a hundred percent important. The industry is so fast-paced these days and that speed has allowed people within the industry to ignore trends or movements that have been in motion in the background for a long time. I want to make students aware of what is going on behind the scenes, I mean look at what happened with Rana Plaza. They need to think about where that piece of fur came from before it ended up in their hands in the design studio and if they really need to use it in their designs. We are looking to embed sustainability and ethics into all our modules. So many students that arrive here associate fashion with Grazia and super model, so it is up to us to force those questions and make them think about the ethical side of the industry. Most students who study at Falmouth are interested in designing women's wear and in their first designs they tend to incorporate high heels. So I ask them why would you subject women to wear heels so high they look like baby giraffes when they try walk in them? Don't think about high heels, think about design. And then by the time they are in their third year, most of them incorporate flats, one way or another. Make them care, that is what is very important to us to teach them to use their brains. At the faculty, we used to ask ourselves what is fashion? I think we have figured out a solid answer, it is a conscious expression of the times through clothing. So, surely if we are teaching fashion we end to make sure that the ethical and sustainability are part of these modern times.
Do you think that the curriculum at Falmouth University is relevant to the industry?
We are constantly looking at our curriculum and rewriting the course work. Technology is evolving so quickly these days, and we strive to move things along with it and take it to the next level. Students need to be able to handle and work with the latest technological advancements and tools in the industry, it is paramount to ensure you are moving forward. Along with ethical and sustainable issues, we strive to make sure they are aware of what is going on in the modern world.
How important do you think it is to create links and contacts with the industry whilst attending school?
Well, for me it has been easy to keep the links I have, thanks to modern day technology. As a teacher is it important to keep those links throughout your lifetime, when I was attending CSM I created my network which has grown and expanded over the years, just as I have within my career. At Falmouth we teach the importance of building a network, a community, during your studies so you can keep the links long after you have graduated. We insist that our fashion designers and photographers work closely together because when they graduated and started to build their own careers, they will become the leaders in the industry. I think that it is very important for students to have a hand in the industry right from the start. Our second year students all have to commit to a three week work placement at the end of the summer, not only to experience what it is like, but also to give them the confidence to go out and believe they can successfully work in the industry. We want to make sure they are aware of what's out there and to do so they need to venture out and see it with their own eyes.
What 
It changes all the time. Right now, I am worried about students leaving school with such a huge amount of debt. Some even say that they bought their degrees. Students have also become hellbent on getting the best possible marks they can, which means that they are less likely to take risks. But you must take risks and dare to go wrong and not fear failure. We push them to the very edge of the precipitant because if they keep obsessing about marks, they will never get the job they want.
The older I have become, the more my opinion changed. I think that the industry is moving too fast at the moment and that is acting destructively on creativity. Designers are pushed to make 8 seasons a year to keep up with the pace of the industry, its too much. Look at what happened to Alexander McQueen, that must have played part. On the other hand, I really enjoy where I am now. I can learn all about the industry, I am in it but not driven by it. I can see students, who are not necessarily in the middle of a fashion capital come out with spine tingling work. Which is what we want to encourage, that fashion is about taking risks and not about t making money, which seems to be the cause with many designers today. There are not many McQueens or Vivienne Westwood's out there in the industry today. Hopefully we can produce some and send some radicals out into the world again to shake things up.
Vivian Hendriksz
Photos: John Boddy, Fashion Studios at Falmouth University