IFM: Let’s hear from the teachers (V)

We've reached our last stop in the fashion capital. After Esmod Paris, Mod’Art International, Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne and Atelier Chardon Savard, FashionUnited ends its tour of training in fashion

skills with Institut Français de la Mode (IFM, French Fashion Institute). Founded in 1986 by Pierre Bergé, the Institute allows graduates with a national diploma of higher education to take high-level professional courses in management and design. We meet Alice Litscher who works with students studying in the Design sector (Accessories, Clothing and the Image, taught by Hans de Foer) which is based on ideas in the world of communication and design. She is also a graphic artist specialising in the design of magazine mock-ups , something that calls for a very sharp eye!

How did you

become involved in teaching and what is your function at the IFM?
After attending a magazine design workshop (conducted by David Herman), Francine Pairon (ex-director of the International Master in Design which she established) asked me to work on an annual basis at the IFM, at the request of the students. I have been teaching there for four years now, with varying timetables. My role is to help students define their own creative design world and help them develop their ability to communicate their projects.

What does the word “Communication” mean at the IFM?
It means several things. First of all, it is an initial workshop in which the student defines his/her own creative world. Students’ career paths are very varied – some already have a trade mark, whilst others have previously worked in a studio. Then, throughout the year, I work by participating in all the following workshops so that everyone can develop his vision and explain it to different professionals. Lastly, there is the creation of a portfolio at the end of the year, which includes projects carried out at the IFM that are presented to different audiences (teachers, professionals, head hunters).

What do you have to say about the fashion industry?
It has changed a great deal over the last few decades. For a designer, establishing your own trade mark has become very difficult as the return on investment in fashion is very slow. Few business angels are interested in chancing their hand. There is also a frenzy to re-launch trade marks that no longer exist, which saves time in the climb to recognition and fame. In my view, a designer today must be able to work as part of a team, to communicate his vision and ideas within an existing organisation.

What do you look at in your workshops?
If you want to work in fashion, the priority is to have wide historical and current knowledge of the industry, but knowledge is not enough because fashion is everywhere. You have to read, have the ability to look at things from different perspectives and connect with current ideas in global fashion. You have to do more than simply look at the fashion parades in Style.com! Today, you cannot think about a collection without looking at the end client, its significance, its contribution to fashion… There was a period when some designers or couturiers worked as artists, sometimes almost as if under a bell jar. That can’t happen today.

What are your thoughts on the available fashion schools today? Did you go to one?
I took a double course so I would be able to work in fashion communication. I first studied graphic art at Ecole Estienne, then obtained a DSAA [Diplôme supérieur d’arts appliqués, Higher diploma in the applied arts] in Fashion and the Environment at Ecole Duperré. With regard to the fashion schools, they are perhaps first and foremost a way of developing a network, and they are a potent yeast for fermenting competition. But nowadays, I don’t think they have much to teach about something that is essentially a learning a job. Students acquire their skills in the real professional world, and through training courses and workshops. One of the advantages of the IFM is its many partners (editor’s note: Chanel, Céline, Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior etc). Collaborations with the big names are very practical and some of them lead to a job. The school is a pretext, I find, and experience is gained out in the field. Also, I regard myself as a coach rather than a teacher. I am there to open students’ minds through discussion and sharing. You have to be aware of why a school is there. It makes no sense to be academic. Now more than ever, new skills are emerging that have no precise heading. These things can’t be taught, but they can be invented. Above all else, the student must be focused on the future!

Céline Vautard

Photos: Portrait of Alice Litscher
The IFM by night and a student’s research work