From Three Streets to Fashion School

Words and images by Lucy Faulkner, alumni and former Lead Stylist

I can’t lie and pretend I don’t miss St Andrews, but as I write this sitting in a café nestled between thrift shops and trattorias, a short walk away from the Arno on a sunny day in Florence (who knew the sun shone in October?), it’s difficult to be too upset.

 This time last year I had no idea what I was doing with myself. Being stuck in my flat all day, every day, attending lectures on Microsoft Teams didn’t exactly inspire creativity and excitement for the future. However, I do have St Andrews, almost entirely, to thank for where I have ended up; at fashion school in Italy, studying a masters in Fashion Brand Management.

 Polimoda is a fashion school nestled in the beautiful Tuscan city of Florence, established in the 80s as the brainchild of FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) in New York and Florentine brand Emilio Pucci to foster. And not to brag, but it is pretty cool. The school president is Ferruccio Ferregamo (president of Salvatore Ferregamo) and a number of the undergraduate and masters courses are sponsored by and closely linked with the likes of Gucci and Vogue. You can see why I feel like I’m living in a dream!

 It certainly hasn’t been completely smooth sailing. The phrase “I have nothing to wear” has never felt truer than when deciding what to wear on my first day. Obviously, I spent the whole morning trying to pick out an outfit. However, due to my extremely interesting but, unfortunately, not very related undergraduate degree in neuroscience, I had to juggle this clothing conundrum with panic-researching the entirety of all fashion history, ever.

 But despite the first-day-fear and antagonising appearance of my 20-hour-a-week timetable (a little bit of a contrast to the 6 hours I had last year), the course has been fantastic. Aside from teaching, all of our lecturers work in the industry, are artists and designers, or both! Much like St Andrews, it feels like you are learning from the best and their passion and knowledge for their subject is incredibly inspiring. Moreover, the topics we discuss seem both far-reaching and never-ending; fashion law, journalism, supply chain management, merchandising, aesthetics, strategic branding and “sociology of the imaginary” are some of the classes I have this semester alone. Three weeks in and yes, I still have to explain that “St Andrews is a surprisingly fashionable place” and that even though I have a somewhat surprising degree for a fashion student, I do actually have some experience. But I have to say, I think I’m settling in!

 The fairytale of living in Florence certainly hasn’t worn off. However, talking to a new friend last night about it being a dream come true to be here, we realised it also feels…normal? How something so life changing, something that people dream of crossing off their bucket lists can feel so ordinary is a juxtaposition both strange and comforting. Sure, sometimes I get overwhelmed by the intricacies of Italian life (I am yet to figure out the recycling system), but I already feel at home in this city amongst a sea of strangers, attending a school where I feel as though I’m miles from the safety of the shore.

 This time last year I had no idea what I was going to do with myself. Don’t get me wrong, it was great seeing my friends get accepted to PwC, Deloitte and other intimidating firm’s graduate schemes, but it was also terrifying. It always seemed to me that after graduation, there would be a job in London waiting for me at the end. A job I didn’t want. Instead, as I considered my time at St Andrews, I realised that some of the things I loved the most were my roles in FS, Sitara, CATWALK and, of course, Haute.

 It was an unnerving decision to pursue a masters in fashion - something I have minimal experience in and is worlds away from what I’ve already studied. In some ways nothing has changed since last year; I still have no idea what I want to do with myself. But living in a beautiful apartment in the heart of an Italian city, attending classes every day with students from 10 different countries, eating literally the best food I’ve ever had, it’s hard to feel like I made a bad choice. Ask me again in a year what I’m doing with my life and I think I might, finally, have a different answer!

You can learn more about what Lucy’s up to at fashionpsychologyetc.com.