After graduating with a Bachelor of Fashion Design from the world renowned TAFE NSW Fashion Design Studio (FDS), Kaylene Milner travelled around the globe putting her skills and education to work. She launched her namesake label, and won the Fashion Future Scholarship which saw her moving to New York to immerse herself in the fashion capital of the world.

Invaluable experiences

Having gained experience at the prestigious Diane Von Fürstenberg Studio and then the trend forecasting agency, Fashion Snoops, Kaylene returned to Australia in 2013. She joined FDS, this time as a teacher. Kaylene was able to bring the new skills and experiences from her time overseas to her new role.

Never one to rest on her laurels, outside of teaching, Kaylene launched a rock and punk inspired, cult knitwear brand, WAH-WAH, then won the 2017 Premier’s TAFE NSW scholarship. The scholarship allowed her to visit the USA to study creative and innovative ways to implement sustainable fashion business models and will allow Kaylene to pass on her new learnings, as well as years' worth of industry experience to her students.

Kaylene used this experience to look at businesses that acquire start-up capital through alternate routes such as crowd funding, as well as those implementing new and innovative ways of selling.

In Hong Kong, London, Antwerp, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, Milner met with creative industry leaders and innovators.

Impressive innovations

"Australian fashion design students are graduating with impressive bodies of work that display a high level of creativity and innovation in regards to textiles, pattern making, garment construction and conceptual exploration of themes," says Kaylene.

"Many of these students want to start their own business after graduation but are hindered by a lack of funding and resources." 

Kaylene is eager to share knowledge and discover new technologies and ideas. She says the industry's innovation and creativity needs to be supported by innovation and creativity in business design. This will ensure that the skills acquired at TAFE NSW are given a place and purpose in the industry.

Kaylene is passionate about creating meaningful learning experiences for her students that are not only creative but business.

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