Each academic year opens up new prospects for higher education students; this 2023/2024 academic year is no exception. Despite the difficult situation and martial law in Ukraine, students have a valuable opportunity to communicate with professionals in the fashion industry. Getting acquainted with modern competitive industries and industry leaders makes the educational process interesting and practical for future experts.
On September 8, 2023, teachers of the Department of Fashion Technology, applicants of the first (bachelor's) level of the educational programs "Fashion Industry", "Computer Design of the Fashion Industry" and "Textile Technologies of Fashion and Interior Space" and the second (master's) level of the educational program "Fashion Industry" visited the RITO designer knitwear company.
During the meeting, we had the opportunity to ensure that RITO, the leader of the Ukrainian textile and knitwear industry, continues to work effectively during the war and actively improves in the direction of integrating modern advanced technologies and environmental solutions into the production process.
The company's director, Tetiana Abramova, who is the founder and owner of this business, welcomed the students and told them about the RITO knitwear brand. The students got acquainted with the full production cycle – from the first sketches and developments of the design bureau to the replication of products and their packaging. Control at all stages of production makes it possible to constantly produce new unique collections of knitwear and products for interior design. The RITO brand competes with global knitwear brands in terms of design and quality and is successfully in demand not only in Ukraine but also in Lithuania, Denmark, the Czech Republic, and Canada.
Women's clothing by RITO Woman is characterized by a perfect combination of practicality and compliance with seasonal trends. Home textiles of the RITO Home line bring a sense of warmth and comfort to your home. Basic models in the RITO Man line have been developed for men. RITO fashion house presents its collections of clothing and textiles at international shows, such as Ukrainian Fashion Week and Trade mark defile.
The second part of the stakeholder meeting at the enterprise was equally fruitful, with a productive and constructive dialogue on a wide range of issues, including graduate employment and on-the-job training. The issue of ensuring that program learning outcomes meet the needs of modern production also provoked a lively discussion among the roundtable participants. Considerable attention was paid to the list of professional competencies for mastering innovations that are important in the modern labor market.
Employers are the first to feel the need for relevant specialists with a certain set of professional competencies, so they actively participate in the monitoring and discussion of all three EPPs. An external stakeholder Tetiana Abramova, students, and teachers of the Department of Fashion Technology gathered at a roundtable to express their wishes and suggestions about the necessary competencies of future professionals for their professional competitiveness in the labor market under modern production conditions.
The director of the company supported the direction of development of the specialty 182 Consumer Industry Technologies and readiness for further cooperation, positively assessed the practical orientation of the presented educational and professional programs, focused on proportional theoretical and practical training and sufficient consideration of the needs of students in their educational trajectory. The external stakeholder expressed wishes for the specific skills they require from graduates and assured that they are ready to facilitate the practical training of higher education students and provide them with the opportunity to undergo industrial and pre-diploma internships.
Such examples of fashion industry leaders, despite the military aggression and dedication to their work, are admirable and inspiring, and are a model of indomitability and constant movement forward! The roundtable participants communicated in a friendly and constructive manner to discuss topical issues of improving the quality of training for future fashion industry professionals.
We are sincerely grateful to Tetiana Abramova, Director of RITO, for the transfer of the accumulated practical valuable experience and the opportunity to get acquainted with the production, expert assessment of the quality of educational programs, and proposals for the practical training of students and the formation of the necessary competencies in practice!
21.09.2023
