7 Design area Design, from the perspective of education and training Gisela Fortuna Gisela Fortuna holds a BA in Fashion and Textiles by the University of Buenos Aires. Today, she teaches and heads the Fashion Design Department at ESNE, Design and Innovation University. At the same time, she is a consultant for companies like Grupo Corte Inglés and Grupo Cortefiel and has designed Fashion Courses for the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of the Government of Spain. Do you believe that workwear is now growing in importance, these past few se- asons? I do.There are big companies that commis- sion fashion designers with the creation of workwear and uniforms. Is a good image as important as a good sales person? Every company needs a clear corporate message. And this message may be reflec- ted in various factors, among which uni- forms and workwear are a key to the image and message to be conveyed. Today, both clients and consumers relate to brands and labels by means of the li- festyle products or services promote and advertise. What are the indispensable factors to be taken into account when choosing uni- forms, in addition to esthetics? The most important factor will be functio- nality. In the past, it was hard to combine esthetics with functionality but today this is of the essence.Think of waiters and wai- tresses in restaurants, coffee shops, etc. At ESNE we believe this is very important and it is one of our requirements whenever our students design workwear and uni- forms. What are the sectors, industrial or other, where design can stand out at its best? Hostelry and restaurants, these are the two sectors choosing design as a major element. And Airlines. Balenciaga, Emilio Pucci and Pierre Balmain were some of the first to work in collaboration with airline companies. What about colours? Should they be clas- sics, lively, neutral? Are there any sectors in which any of these will fit better? It will depend on the corporate image of a company. For every colour has its mea- ning and will psychologically influence on consumers, in various ways. For instance, Easy Jet prefers lively orange for it is cle- arly related to younger consumers. Though Iberia will prefer the colours of the Spanish flag. Can we say workwear and uniforms grow closer to urban clothes? Yes, of course. Corporate uniforms conju- gate fashion and trends. Urban fashion, ho- wever, has always prioritizes esthetics but now, functionality is becoming increasingly impor tant. We at ESNE tr y to have our students find inspiration in all fields of fas- hion when they design workwear and uni- forms.This makes design rich. Are students more motivated when wor- king on urban clothes? Or are uniforms also a welcome challenge? In the beginning most of them want to de- sign urban clothes, or party gowns for younger girls. Now, as they progress, they become aware of functionality as an essen- tial element in design and many of them find jobs in this sector. Mónica Moreno There are many schools that have not as yet taken this into account and their stu- dents are not suitably prepared for today’s marketplace, nor for the future. At ESNE we specialize in Design, and our University offers the Fashion Design course that ena- bles students to have a full, extensive pers- pective of design, including workwear and uniforms. At ESNE we empower the talent of our students, in every field, and work- wear/uniforms Design is one of them, with good job opportunities. Marta Pozuelo Is workwear and uniforms design a spe- cial chapter in fashion? What, if someone wants to dedicate their time exclusively to this field? JOBWEAR 64 No II / 2013