Brooke Weston Academy was delighted to welcome accomplished designer Josephine Lavey to run workshops for our Year 10 and Year 11 art and textile students, which included a corsetry workshop with examples of corsets through history, and a workshop giving students advice and sharing techniques to help them complete their NEA’s. She also spent time with Josh Dichie, Year 13 who is making a corset for his NEA as part of his DT A'level course.

Josephine studied Theatrical Costume for Stage and Screen at Bournemouth University before travelling to America to complete her Master’s Degree in Theatrical Design. She returned to London to design and create costumes for West End stage productions before starting her own corset business. She currently works in the luxury-leather handbag market, in a niche role that sees her responsible for designing the most cost-effective way to produce the final product.  

Eslpeth Bedwell, Year 11 said, ‘It was a really useful visit as she was very interactive during the workshop and gave good advice about working in the industry and how to get started. She told me to be bold, creative and to talk to people and believe in myself. She was very inspirational, and it was good to see someone in a designing career that has been successful and know that it is achievable.’

Tahia Begum, Year 11 said, ‘She was really motivational and encouraged us to be creative and not to give up on our dreams. During the workshop she demonstrated some techniques that were useful to use on our own work.’

Head of DT, Jenny Strydom said, ‘It is the first time we have had an experienced designer visiting Brooke Weston Academy. It was interesting for the students to hear her speaking about her own journey and career as a designer, and she was able to offer practical skills to help with their coursework. Her visit was inspirational and we thank her for agreeing to give up her time to speak with our students.'