Reap what you sew: experiential learning studios develop stronger designers
School of Art & Design
Published on the 18 December 2025
Guided fashion and textile studios help foster independence, strong skillsets and distinctive aesthetics.
Channelling her anger about fast fashion helped Ebba Åstradsson develop her design aesthetic and making skills. The second-year fashion and textiles student incorporated a “rant” against consumerism into one of her first garments for her Bachelor of Design in Integrated Design.
“We’re educated to see ourselves as the leaders of the future in terms of the circular economy and sustainable fashion, [to believe] we can turn the trajectory around and save the planet,” Ms Åstradsson says.
“But where is this optimism coming from? [The responsibility] is daunting; it’s a lot of pressure. Just by working your retail job, you can see it’s absolutely not about [supporting sustainable fashion]. So how can we have impact?”
She screen-printed her concerns in newsprint-style text across the fabric, highlighting the question: “Is it too late”? in red. The piece was personal, fuelled by passion.
But with just one pattern-making course under her belt – fashion students don’t need prior experience at UNSW – troubleshooting her design within the Fashion Studio proved instrumental.
The Fashion Studio is part of the UNSW Making Centre, a global industry standard design studio for textiles within the School of Art & Design on UNSW’s Paddington Campus.
The Centre is open to students five days a week and houses extensive modern domestic and industrial resources for diverse textile design processes. Its open-plan learning space supports the exploration of everyday textiles applications, such as fashion, interior textiles, furniture, art, sculpture, and jewellery.
It comprises large island workbenches and a curated machine production area, fostering both handmade and machine strengths. Students undertake online badges to introduce them to different tools and consult with experienced technicians to help them realise their designs.
“Our technicians are all practicing professionals beyond the university as well as researchers and academics,” says Eloïse Panetta, an educator and technician in the Fashion and Textiles Studios.
Ms Panetta has worked with global fashion brands and now runs her own made-to-order women’s wear company focused on conscious design. “Students have access to an incredible diversity of skills, networks, contacts, that directly benefit them, including affiliations with other universities,” the UNSW alumna says.
The Centre supports all skill levels and encourages multi-disciplinary practice. “We have a lot of contact hours with students, working on their individual needs and projects,” Ms Panetta says.
“This could be troubleshooting pattern-making challenges, teaching complex pattern-making and design principles all the way through to construction techniques, and technical troubleshooting with the machines and sewing.”
Student projects span sewing, knitting, digital and traditional weaving and tufting, embroidery and felting, immersive dyeing, screen and sublimation printing, direct-to-garment printing and more.
“When you’re working in a global fashion business, and you have a very specific role, time is money,” Ms Panetta says. “When we’re working in our fashion and textile workshops, there is so much space for nurturing."
“We balance this with industry professionalism. Students are at the very start of their careers, their own design journeys, so we hold those two spaces together.”
Embracing failure for greater long-term success
Ms Åstradsson’s design was inspired by the eclectic style of Rei Kawakubo, the founder and head designer of Comme des Garçons, a Japanese fashion label based in Paris.
“Her ethos is that everything we are doing and seeing is limitless, so I wanted to make a piece that reflected this, that had that boundary-less element to it,” Ms Åstradsson says.
She designed a structured piece, conical and asymmetrical in form. “I like to play with abstract, geometric forms, to go against the natural shape of the body and almost challenge that idea that the body dominates the dressing,” she says.
“It was a failure and a success all in one project. I remember that shape – it didn’t touch the hips at all – just trying to perfect it and trying to get it to stand out was so difficult.”
She explored how to translate her sketches and ideas into reality through different iterations in the studio. “Something I really appreciate from all the technicians is that they know what they're doing, but they won't give you the answer,” she says.
“It’s more like they're holding your hand while you're talking [and thinking it through] and they’re whispering, ‘This is achievable’.”
She sampled her design in cardboard and calico prior to experimenting with mesh, boning and net beneath the fabric. The experience helped her develop her personal design process as well as teaching her about achieving different shapes.
“I was happy with how it turned out, especially the visuals I sought to convey in the photographs of the work. Because it was such a structured piece, I aimed for my model to evoke the look of a paper doll, emphasising the whimsical and playful nature of toy-like clothing. If you pulled the garment up, it would hold its form on that angle so we could really play with that,” she says.
“Going from not even being able to make your own T-shirt to doing such a complex design was a bit of a jump. You have to commit to learning.”
Ebba Åstradsson “Is it too late”? printed in red. The piece was personal, fuelled by passion.
Finding your aesthetic
This fusion of the personal and the political within her designs has developed throughout Ms Åstradsson’s degree. Moving from Sweden to Australia to study, her studies became strongly connected to her sense of self.
“Fashion became a way I could express myself, say if I was feeling insecure about my accent or the way I spoke … [it] provoked a thirst for putting that self-expression into a creative avenue.”
She was drawn to the practical nature of the degree as well as its flexibility. With no prior experience in making, its hands-on rather than digital approach was exciting and intimidating.
“The campus is small – it’s a big community – and there’s so much opportunity to test all these different disciplines, technologies and skills,” she says.
“I never would have imagined I’d like screen-printing, and now it’s become almost a minor – I’m there all the time – it’s a fun way to experiment with digital graphics to elevate designs versus physical making where it’s more trial and error.”
Ms Åstradsson now runs her own T-shirt brand with a strong emphasis on the screen-printing medium. She attributes her growing confidence in her skills to her time in the Making Centre. “In my first year, I was in the studios every single day from like nine-to-five. I had no idea what I was doing sometimes, but I wanted to make my designs,” she says.
“At times it would be total chaos, but sometimes it would be so beautiful, because even though it was my work, each piece would be a collaboration between me, my tutors, the technicians and my peers, and the inspiration would come from all of these influences. It’s a very safe and open space for growth and failure.”
Working in dialogue with the body
This experimentation has given her an understanding of the dialogue between the body, fabric and design. She’s taken this into her next project, a more fitted asymmetrical piece with a feature collar, bell-shaped sleeves with buttons, pleats and a drop waist.
The brief – to work only in white fabric – draws your focus to the silhouette, the techniques and textures, she says.
“I’m working on the mannequin, then [reviewing the design] on my own body or someone else’s. I love working with contrasting textures and shapes that showcase scale. I'm drawn to how the structured shape of the garment interacts with the softness of the human form."
“What’s so amazing about the facilities and the resources that we have in terms of tutors, technicians and supplies is that they expect a lot from you – they give you a brief that's a bit out of your comfort zone – but they'll be with you every step of the way,” she says.
“The technicians let you discover and learn through experience, through experimentation, through failures. And now when I’m talking to them, I have more skills so we’re having a dialogue focused on techniques. It’s gratifying.”
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