Courtney Whittle – Level 3 Fashion and Textiles

Name: Courtney Whittle

Course Name: Level 3 Fashion and Textiles

Course Type: Full Time

Image Caption: NWSLC student Courtney Whittle Level 3 Fashion and Textiles
Courtney worked hard to get qualified and forge a career in the fashion industry. She now juggles her time between looking after her small son and working for a high-profile international swimwear designer. 

Courtney, from Nuneaton, first joined the College to follow a Level 3 Fashion diploma and stayed on to complete a further two years, achieving an HND in Fashion. After leaving college, she worked in clothing retail before moving north for a year to study for a degree in fashion business at Nottingham Trent University.  

Armed with a full suite of qualifications, it wasn’t long before Courtney secured a position as a visual merchandiser looking after two M&S stores in Leamington Spa. Taking a brief break after the birth of her son, Courtney changed direction and earlier this year started her dream job working for a renowned fashion designer.  

As a pattern cutter for Avalon Fashions, Courtney creates samples for Melissa Odabash, former swimwear model turned designer who has been credited with re-introducing high fashion into the swimwear world. Her luxury collection was dubbed ‘the Ferrari of the bikini world’ by British Vogue.  

Melissa has been named as ‘Designer of the Year’ in Paris, ‘Swimwear Designer of the Year’ and ‘Retailer of the Year’ at the London Lifestyle awards. She has worked with couture designer Julien Macdonald OBE to create sell-out capsule collections which are distributed in over 50 countries throughout 500 luxury department stores plus her own boutiques in Notting Hill and Chelsea.    

Once Melissa approves the samples created by Courtney and her colleagues at Avalon, the designer finalises her collection and the garments are produced in Italy, Portugal and India. 

Courtney said, “I love my job because I am bringing creative ideas to life for an international fashion designer. It hasn’t been easy getting to this point in my career and it does require a lot of hard work and determination.  

“I studied textiles as part of my college courses and then moved on to study the business aspects of fashion at university. With that combination of skills, I felt well prepared for any role in the industry. I am now trying to learn as much as I can and would love to set up my own fashion design business in the future.     

“I certainly wouldn’t be here without my college qualifications. I really enjoyed college and would recommend NWSLC to anyone who is interested in getting a head start in the world of fashion.”