Jane Parker as Head of Fashion & Costume Design

Fashion pioneer, Country Road's Jane Parker is taking over as Head of Fashion & Costume Design at the Melbourne campus of global design school, LCI Education Network. 

The fashion industry is in Parker's blood; she co-founded the renown Australian lifestyle brand, Country Road, in 1975 with her brother, Stephen Bennett. 

“I’m at a point in my career where I want to give back and I can't think of a better way than to do it through education, giving students creative direction and support throughout their Bachelor of Design Arts degree. 

"Fine tuning skills and accruing the best experience possible can make all the difference in such a competitive industry," said Ms. Parker. 

"Australian fashion education has corne a long way in the last few years and I could think of nothing better than mentoring and guiding students towards the global stage." 

Parker will be leading the Fashion & Costume Design department. Commencing in March 2019, her work will involve strengthening and progressing the existing curriculum, using her experience in design, strategy and creative direction, and drawing on her wealth of knowledge of the Australian fashion landscape. 

"We approached Jane with the view to leading the curriculum, as she is a pioneer in Australian fashion and has a deep understanding of how that translates globally," said Coralie Morrissey, LCI Asia Pacific CEO. 

"Jane has a very successful history of mentoring budding designers and this aligns perfectly with our commitment to providing our students a connection to their teachers and enabling them to gain rich insights into industry" said Ms. Morrissey. 

Connections to the design industry for LCI Melbourne extends to its partnerships with leading design events, including Virgin Australia Fashion Festival, Melbourne Design Week and Milan Design Week this year.

Since launching its newly refurbished state-of-the-art warehouse campus, the school has caught the attention of many leading industry experts, who now support as instructors, tutors and mentors for students. 

lt's small class sizes and streamlined majors means quality, one-on-one time spent with teachers and industry professionals, ma king it an attractive place to study. 
Parker will be working alongside other leading design professionals such as Brigit HelIer, who was recently announced as a finalist for the prestigious Montalto Sculpture Prize, 2019. 

''l’m very much looking forward to sharing my experiences and knowledge with the students and helping them to realise their career goals," said Jane Parker.

"They're at a thrilling point in their lives - and l’m pleased that I can be a part of it."