Female culinary students will see better-fitting chef jackets in the bookstore next year

In Sept. 2015, revamped, masterfully crafted female chef jackets will be hitting the racks at the George Brown College (GBC) bookstore.

Although the jackets will look the same on the outside as the current unisex jackets, their fit will be catered to curves of the female frame, ranging from size small to 6XL thanks to one dedicated George Brown fashion techniques and design program graduate, Alina Barsukova.

Barsukova was granted a unique learning experience, and as a result future female culinary art students will have a comfortable jacket to work in.

Over the years, Joe Bogdan the manager of GBC’s bookstore had heard countless complaints from female students about the ill-fitting unisex chef jacket. After searching for better jackets and coming up short he decided to problem solve.

With this intention, in early April Bogdan arranged a meeting with Marilyn McNeil-Morin, chair of GBC’s school of fashion studies and performing arts, and Rosalia Kovarsky, a professor in the fashion studies program.

At this gathering Bogdan successfully solved his problem and birthed a great job opportunity for one lucky fashion student. The trio decided to grant one student the opportunity to redesign the unisex chef jackets, to fit the comfort needs of female students.

“I thought of Alina right away, because while I was teaching her I noticed she was calm, punctual and reliable, and she was always asking me for hands on experience,” said Kovarsky.

With just a month before graduation, Barsukova accepted the job offer.

“I was obviously nervous, but keeping my mind on the task and deadlines helped get me through,” said Barsukova.

The project began at the end of April and continued throughout the summer. Barsukova didn’t work alone, she worked side by side with Kovarsky and Azar Rajabi-Asi, a former student who offered to help out.

Barsukova had to face several unique barriers while redesigning the jackets saying, “the first challenge was proper transition from male to female fit, the second was keeping the garment functional, and the third was adequate sizing.” Another barrier was the time frame allotted for the rework of the jackets.

“Since production began in the summer there was a lot of waiting because of vendors and class schedules,” said Kovarsky. “While working on the jackets we would grab students from other departments to help create prototypes in several sizes, while we waited for Christine Walker’s culinary class to return from summer break.”

Kovarsky said the reason Barsukova was successful in completing the overhaul of the jackets was because of her ability to stay calm.

“George Brown helped me to gain a clear view of what I want to do in life,” said Barsukova. “Stay true to your original idea, do your homework and show up!”