For one week in May, over a hundred 14 and 15 year old students from the British School Al Khubairat left behind their books to undertake work experience in firms based in the UAE and further afield. The placements give students a chance to experience what their potential future careers might be like.

Stephanie Kelly chose to work at one of the UAE’s top names in fashion retail, Al Mubarak Holdings. Under the supervision of Group Director Jennifer Davie, she worked in their Chateau Des Enfant’s children’s shop, organized trunk shows and created window displays. She also went to the First Choice Abaya factory in Mussafah, where they make high quality traditional clothing and put her design ideas into practice.

Stephanie had found out about Al Mubarak Holdings when she taught Jennifer’s daughter, Georgina in an art club. She was delighted to have discovered such a worthwhile placement saying “Honestly, I could not have been luckier. All my life I have wanted to work into fashion retail and now, by working with Jennifer for only a week, I’ve been able to get a real experience of what this really entails. It is something classrooms just cannot teach. It was fantastic to go into the factory and see so many people working on such refined pieces of clothing with such high standards of craftsmanship – it was amazing and made me want to brush up on my textile skills!”

Jennifer Davie commented: “Working in fashion is a career many students may think about. It always appears to be very glamorous and exciting but as Stephanie found out, it is also extremely hard work. I was very impressed with Stephanie and how she approached the work. To be successful in fashion retail you need to have great design ideas but also to be able to understand the commercial reality of markets. You will often spend most of your time looking at costs, marketing and sales. Stephanie picked this up very quickly and I hope we have inspired her to go forward and make her name in the fashion world.”