Design Hub Launches With Fashion Parade
24 Sep 2021 3:04PM
Australian Pacific College has been training international and domestic students across Australia for almost 30 years in vocational courses from travel and tourism through to project management. Their Gold Coast campus is in the heart of Surfers Paradise, just a few minutes’ walk from the beach, and its latest showpiece is the Creative Design Hub, an initiative developed and supported through Study Gold Coast’s Education Vision Project Fund.
The Creative Design Hub was officially launched with a fashion parade showcasing the work of two Gold Coast labels, Circa Collective and Why Mary. Australian Pacific College Assistant Academic Manager for Design Rachel Hawkins says she wanted to stage an event to create awareness about the new facility and its potential for students.
Multiple creative disciplines
“We are here, we have an amazing facility and we have a space we want to share with industry to engage with us while showcasing our incredibly talented students”, Rachel says.
“Being very new, the Creative Design Hub is still a work in progress, but it’s a space where students from multiple creative disciplines can come together to explore different design concepts and collaborate while developing their ideas. For instance, fashion and interior design students can work with different samples from local industry providers like Resene Paints who have provided fabric and colour samples where students can use them on material boards and mood boards as they begin to understand the types of materials available in the industry and their potential applications when they start their professional careers.”

Many of the catwalk models were students
For students who aren’t sure what creative industry they want to work in, the College offers a Certificate III in Design Fundamentals, where they can discover the different facets of graphic, interior and fashion design. From there they can go on to do a diploma in their preferred discipline before progressing to an Advanced Diploma if they so choose. This can then lead to pathways where students can progress to Bachelor and Masters’ qualifications through Griffith and Torrens universities.
In launching the Creative Design Hub Rachel Hawkins was keen to feature local fashion designers to provide students with industry touchpoints and to see the possibilities of where their talent can take them.
Local designer
Why Mary was established by Janette Laver after studying fashion design at TAFE on the Gold Coast.
“I’d always harboured a desire to design, but I knew it would take many years to develop and establish my label. In those days if you were serious about fashion you had to be in Sydney or Melbourne to gain access to the big fabric stores and wholesalers. It was very difficult to get them to come to the Gold Coast dragging all of their swatches and samples when you might only order a small amount because you’re a boutique brand, but the internet and social media have changed everything”, Janette explains.

Why Mary designs featured on the catwalk
It didn’t take much to convince the Why Mary designer to take part in the launch of the new APC facility. “The idea of the Creative Design Hub resonated with me because the Gold Coast really needs something like this. I was more than happy to be a part of it if it could help the college and its students”, she says.
Janette’s advice to fashion design students is to think about how they can contribute to a more sustainable future. “Increasingly people are wanting to know where the fabrics were sourced and how they were made. Fast fashion is still a reality, but there seems to be a rising awareness about it and more and more people are electing not to support those practices. For students studying fashion it’s important, if they can, to source natural fibres to ensure more ethical and sustainable practices.”
*Interested in studying design at APC? Visit their site here.
*Photos by APC student Miguel Gongora