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FUTURE THREADS - CAREERS IN COSTUME

Booking options

Free

Highlights

On-Demand workshop
1 hour
All levels

Description

Part of the FUTURE THREADS series from Textiles Skills Centre, this resource explores the exciting world of Costume Design, Making and Buying through industry insight, creative practice, and real career pathways.

FUTURE THREADS is a series of career-led digital resources for textiles education, funded by All Saints Educational Trust and Merchant Taylors’ Foundation, with support from leading industry and education partners.

Designed for secondary classrooms, these engaging, curriculum-aligned video lessons bring textiles to life through real-world case studies, contemporary applications, and inspiring interviews with professionals working within the Costume Industry.

This Costume resource helps students discover how costume is used across buying, designing and making, while exploring creative processes, materials, sustainability, and career opportunities within the sector.

Supporting teachers with downloadable tasks, information sheets, and industry-informed content, the resource helps connect classroom learning directly to future pathways and the evolving world of textiles today.

RESOURCE AIMS

Introduces students to the world of costume through practical techniques and creative activities.

Provides industry insights via engaging video interviews and hands-on demonstrations.

Supports GCSE/A Level Design & Technology and Art & Design curricula.

Helps students develop technical skills in textiles and costume making.

Explores sustainability and contemporary practices in costume design.

Maps out career pathways within the costume industry, including buying, designing, and making.

Encourages creative thinking and problem-solving through real-world tasks and challenges.

COSTUME RESOURSE CONTENT:

This resource explores the exciting world of COSTUME through a series of practical techniques, industry insights, and creative activities that can be delivered in the classroom, studio, or at home. Designed to support GCSE/A Level Design & Technology and Art & Design, the resource combines engaging video interviews, hands-on demonstrations, information sheets, and creative tasks to help students develop technical skills while exploring contemporary textiles practice and career pathways within the costume industry.

THE RESOURCE INCLUDES:

Cosprop: A lleader In Period Costume Excellence

Industry interview 1: Cosprop introduction – Heather woad

Industry interview 2: Heather Woad - Woman’s Costume Maker at Cosprop

Industry interview 3: Meara Hamlin - Woman’s Costume Maker at Cosprop

Industry interview 4: Beck Fisher Women’s Returns

Inside Cosprop: Behind the scenes of costume for film, tv and theatre: Heather Woad

Cosprop costume maker skills challenge - Become a Costume Maker!

ostume Designing & Making Careers

The UK Costume Industry: Film, Theatre and Television

Cosprop Exhibition Services

Industry Interview 5: Alice Buckingham-A Costume Buyer

Costume Buying Careers

The costume buying challenge - Bringing a Character to Life.

Costume Design & Construction at Nottingham Trent University

Industry Interview 6: Amy Howlett at Nottingham Trent University

Industry Interview 7: Erin White at Nottingham Trent University

Customising Your Own Clothes - A Creative Costume Task

Skills Needed to Become a Costume Buyer

Creative Tasks & Information Sheets
Downloadable guides, extension activities, and supporting resources linked to each task and industry focus.

Cosprop costume maker skills challenge - Become a Costume Maker.

The costume buying challenge - Bringing a Character to Life.

Customising your own clothes - A Creative Costume Task

FUTURE THREADS COSTUME MAKER CHALLENGE IMAGE.jpg

COURSE DEVELOPER – Nicky Simpson BA (Hons) Textiles Design

This FUTURE THREADS resource has been developed by Nicky Simpson, a highly experienced textiles educator, course developer, and contemporary textiles artist specialising in printed and surface textiles.

Nicky has over 12 years’ teaching experience, including leading Fashion & Textiles within a secondary school in Kent, where she taught a wide range of qualifications including GCSE and A Level Art & Design Textiles, GCSE and A Level Design & Technology, and BTEC Level 3 Fashion. Alongside textiles, she has also taught Art, Graphics, and Food at KS3 level.

Before moving into education, Nicky worked as a Senior Director for a London-based fashion print agency, designing original prints and developing seasonal collections for the international fashion market. This strong industry background brings valuable real-world knowledge and contemporary practice into her teaching and resource development.

For the past nine years, Nicky has worked as a textiles consultant for Textiles Skills Centre, developing and delivering both online and face-to-face workshops, resources, and mentoring programmes for teachers and creatives across the UK. She has also delivered workshops for major events and organisations including the Festival of Quilts, the Knit & Stitch Shows, and the National Trust.

Nicky’s own creative practice combines print, machine and hand embroidery, and mixed-media techniques, often inspired by the flora and textures of the British countryside. Through FUTURE THREADS, she is passionate about helping teachers and students connect textiles education with contemporary industry, creativity, and future careers