Keele alumna “living the dream” in New York

Here we take a peek into the life of alumna Victoria Reay-Scott, a menswear fashion designer for Ralph Lauren in New York. Victoria graduated from Keele Management School in 2008 with a degree in Marketing and Education.

Victoria Reay-Scott v2

After graduating from Keele, what led to your current career?

After I left Keele, I went straight back to London where I’m originally from and worked as an Events Coordinator for the Institute of Chartered Accountants England & Wales in the city. Although I very much enjoyed my time there, I knew it was never for me. It was just before my two-year mark there that I decided to leave everything behind and actually pursue my dream of becoming a fashion designer. It had been my dream since I was little so I applied to Parsons The New School of Design in New York and got accepted. I went onto study womens wear fashion design and fell in love with it as I always knew I would.

After graduation, I actually went back to London and worked in the industry for three years. It was there that I transitioned into the menswear side of the industry, which was the best move I made. At this point I took a short course, in the evening, at Central Saint Martins in Menswear Portfolio Design to give me a starting point at building my menswear portfolio. After three years of working in the industry in London, I decided to return to New York, much more ready for the city than I was before, with a full working Green Card. After two months of landing back in the city and a couple of interviews, my agency placed me in front of Ralph Lauren and I secured an Assistant Menswear Designer position, for the woven shirts team for Purple Label dress and sports shirts and Polo dress shirts.

Working for such a well known fashion label must be exciting, how do you feel about your inspiring progress since university?

I’ve come a long way since university. I am very self-critical and I’m the first one to judge myself and come down hard for not doing enough, or wanting to achieve more, but as I sit here writing this, it makes me realise just how much I have achieved since graduating ten years ago. I am now following my dream, the dream I had since I was six years old and living in the city I’ve always wanted to live in since I first came to visit. It hasn’t been easy and the fashion and creative industry for that matter is brutal and extremely competitive, but I’m here and I’m doing it, every day.

How did your studies help you decide what you wanted to do as a career?

Everything I’ve done has helped me realise and achieve what I do today, and while my course at Keele didn’t directly lead to the career I chose, I believe it did cement my passion more to get into the creative industry.

What are your favourite memories of studying at Keele University?

My favourite memories of Keele… are of the friends I made, crazy fancy dress nights at the student’s union, and being so close to Alton Towers!