Biography
Leanne recently left the fashion industry to pursue a career in teaching within the subject of fashion and textiles. After completing a BA Hons in Fashion Design, Leanne worked as a designer for a variety of sports and leisure wear companies for over six years.
Within these roles, she worked with clients, buyers and merchandisers to successfully see designs go from concept to final product in store. A change in the industry climate during the pandemic opened up an opportunity for Leanne to complete her PGCE in Further Education whilst working alongside practitioners within Further Education.
Leanne’s design career began with her graduate collection being selected as one of three to be shown at Graduate Fashion Week for her university, where she was approached by several design companies based in London.
Leanne started working for design companies within Nottingham and Sheffield and worked up from design admin assistant roles to mid-weight designer roles.
During this time she had the opportunity to visit many fashion conventions and fashion shows such as CIFF trade show in Copenhagen and London Fashion Week.
She has worked on designs for brands such as Ellesse, Ted Baker, Everlast, USA Pro, Speedo and Hype. Her experience crosses over many sections of the industry such as CAD design, garment fittings and pattern drafting as well as following a critical path to ensure designs are manufactured to hit company deadlines.
With almost a decade of experience within the fashion industry and Further Education, Leanne has a wealth of knowledge that includes design context, design and manufacturing skills and computer software such as Adobe Illustrator.
She has experience of teaching from Level 1 to Level 3 and continues to expand her design practice through further training and freelance opportunities.