A burgeoning relationship between a creative business centre and De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) means students are getting the opportunity to meet with entrepreneurs while putting their work on public show.
The LCB Depot, in Rutland Street, has been running a showcase of work from DMU’s renowned school of Fashion and Textiles called Reinvention of Tradition which ends today.
The exhibition space will then be filled again with work from the University’s second year Fine Art students in April - in a show called State of the Art 3 - and second year Design Crafts students will run a show called Crafted in May.
Chris Slowe of the LCB Depot at the DMU fashion exhibition
To add to the opportunities the LCB Depot is offering, the exhibition space for the Fashion and Textiles show was designed by a group of DMU’s Interior Design students.
Chris Slowe, who is in charge of public engagement at the LCB Depot, said: “My masterplan is to work with every creative course at DMU because we have businesses from all of these disciplines here at the depot.
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“Ultimately it is all about getting students out of their comfort zone on the DMU campus and into the business world to see how things can work out for them when they have finished their course.
“The reaction to the fashion exhibition has been great. In fact a business has asked if the show can be recreated at one of their upcoming events.
“It all started when I spoke to Carolyn Hardaker at DMU who then pulled together all the fashion course leads and very quickly put together this fantastic show.
“What is important is we really engage with students and ensure they get something out of these opportunities, which is why the Interior Design students were set a module in January to design the show space.
“So they came here, measured up the area, got a feel for the space and designed this! You will see there is red thread running throughout the space. That was one of the students’ ideas. ”
Carolyn Hardaker, Interim Head of the School of Design at DMU, said: “The Reinvention of Tradition show looked brilliant and we are delighted with the feedback we have had from the public and the LCB Depot.
“I am very happy to be working in partnership with the LCB Depot as it houses a fresh, modern exhibition space in the heart of the city’s Cultural Quarter and has some of Leicestershire’s best creative business minds working there.
“Partnering students with this type of set-up is going to be incredibly beneficial to them and business people as well as the general public.
“It is also fantastic news that we can look forward to two other exhibitions in the very near future showcasing the outstanding student talent we have in our Fine Art and Design Craft departments.”
Posted on Friday 8 March 2019