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COVID-19 – the most talked about topic over the past year. We’ve all felt the consequences and struggles of this world-wide pandemic, so the question is:

What can we do to make it better?

My vision outside of my department is to help students by giving them opportunities to collaborate with the industry whilst still studying, to ensure they have a strong portfolio and great chances of succeeding after graduation.

With that in mind, through the Design department at Murray, I have created the ‘Work from home uniform’ competition and asked students from Coventry University and University of Southampton – Winchester School of Art to use their talent and adapt it to the current situation by creating their interpretation of a work from home uniform range. Both of the universities had a winner and a runner up as the purpose of the competition was to give students an equal chance, regardless of their academic choice.

Murray Uniforms is a strong believer in the science of Enclothed Cognition. Because clothes can influence the wearer’s psychological process – from productivity to confidence, I’ve asked the students to take this into consideration when designing their ranges. According to a recent survey* over 50% of adults are working from home, so there is significant scope for a positive effect to be had.

There was a high volume of submission and different interpretations of the brief and it was very impressive to see how each student put their own spin on the brief and added their personalities to the final range. But the ones that stood out the most were:

 

Winners

Coventry University – Timmi Baya

Winchester School of Art – Jasmine Aldridge

Timmi Baya

Timmi’s approach covered not only the consideration towards the work from home range in terms of clothing, but also in terms of footwear and sustainable fabrics. She has shown excellent drawing skills as well as creativity and variety in the design options proposed.

Jasmine Aldridge

Equally, Jasmine has shown a great understanding of the brief by offering creative designs that are still wearable. She has shown great in-depth thinking by analysing the different positions people would have when working from home and adapting her designs accordingly by adding padded panels as well as considering stretch in her fabric choice.

Runner – ups

Coventry University – Vanessa Lazar

Winchester School of Art – Xinyi Zhang

Vanessa Lazar

Vanessa has shown great drawing skills as well and consideration towards sustainable materials. Her range combines both wearable and conceptual items that, when put together, make a very versatile and modern work from home uniform range.

Xinyi Zhang

Xinyi took a unique approach to the brief by thinking of artists who work from home. She has shown great understanding of the functionality element of the brief by considering fabrics with waterproof properties, so artists don’t ruin their clothes whilst working. Her work from home range stood out by being a bit more conceptual, which supports the artists’ creativity when working from home.

As Murray always goes beyond what is expected, we’ve not only offered a cash prize, but also a Teams call with all 4 students in which I gave them advice and guidance on their portfolios and any other questions they had.

Murray Uniforms firmly believe that the education sector is a hive of great ideas, ambition and forward thinking and we want to align ourselves with such thinking, which is why they support me in establishing a student learning centre. Murray appreciates the talent students possess within universities and will continue to create opportunities for them in the future.

If you have any questions or would like to hear more about our university partnerships – you can email us at marketing@murray-uniforms.co.uk

 

 

 

 

*Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash
*Source: https://voxeu.org/article/working-home-revolutionising-uk-labour-market