Marit is an award-winning artist, fashion designer and entrepreneur – but what role have Erasmus+ learning and training experiences played in her success?
“I always start my projects from a feeling or a concept,” Marit shares, “and the Erasmus+ experience gave me the courage to walk my own path.”
Marit Ilison’s journey into fashion began in Tallinn, Estonia where she originally trained as a pattern maker. A Masters in Fashion Design from the Estonian Academy of Arts followed in 2008, before opportunities for work experience beckoned.
Marit’s first Erasmus+ experience came when she spent a year in Copenhagen, working with conceptual fashion themes while “learning to explore new ideas and experiment with new techniques”. Her time in Denmark had a strong influence on her career, as it was where her unique style began to develop.
Her second Erasmus+ training opportunity took her to Antwerp, where she worked with Belgian designer Bruno Pieters and at the Trois Quarts pattern making studio. Here she gained valuable life experience and learned “a great deal about people’s personal space, acceptance and tolerance”, all of which helped to shape her approach to design.
The culmination of Marit’s talent, on-the-job training and work experience abroad was the release of her signature collection ‘Longing for Sleep’ in 2014, which drew recognition from across the fashion industry. She has since won numerous awards, had her work featured in the New York Times and Vogue Paris, and been named both a ‘Vogue Talent’ (2014) and a ‘Vogue Success Story’ (2016).
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Details
- Publication date
- 20 November 2017
- Author
- Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
- Involvements
- Student