A big thank you to alumna Lavinia Fernandes (BHS 1991), who joined us on Wednesday morning (17th May) for a Sixth Form assembly, talking about her journey from school to where she is now, with a focus on fashion and the environment.

Lavinia is a tech start-up founder, entrepreneur, model, designer, buyer and journalist, and has a wealth of experience working with large organisations and managing teams. Throughout her career Lavinia has been working with fashion-focused businesses and it is on this platform she is addressing climate change, working with a number of well-known fashion brands to ensure that they are sustainable and their impact on the environment is minimal.

Following the assembly Lavinia spent time with the GLG, helping them think about the campaign they want to implement this year, the plans they need to put in place and discussing how they can engage their peers at different levels. 

GLG members, Megan Howlett and Parmita Achari, reflected on their time with Lavinia:

“The visit from Lavinia was an enlightening experience. Through her inspiring words during her assembly talk about how her career developed into where she works today, I and many other students found ourselves motivated to be like her! Secondly our meeting after the assembly alongside some of my peers was truly insightful, as she had professional yet relevant and personal advice to give us - to help build our Campaign. Her visit was very much appreciated as we all took away a lot from what she had to say and as a result have learnt many new things.

“Watching Lavinia speak was inspirational, she captivated my attention and showed me that success doesn’t always have to be a linear path. She provided personal insight that I was able to relate to and it put me at ease about the stress of choosing a fixed career. She also showed us how in her own career she started out in the fashion industry which fuelled her passion for sustainability at a world-wide scale. During her visit, she gave us amazing advice regarding our campaign, some of which we have already implemented.”