Discover the new and improved LCF Materials Collection at East Bank
- Written bySorcha Cheevers
- Published date 10 June 2024
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Our library at East Bank is home to the new and improved Materials Collection, where all our students can interact with and learn about a range of material samples to inform their studies. As part of our move to East Bank, the Materials Collection space underwent a new design and gathered input from students and staff across the college. Many of the recommendations for the new collection were made by London College of Fashion (LCF) postgraduate students who took part in the Collaborative Challenge; a unique opportunity for postgraduate students to collaborate across disciplines to address concepts affecting the fashion landscape. Ten students worked on the LCF Materials Collection project as part of the challenge, informing new values, exploring branding and space design, and highlighting specific features like the draping station.
We caught up with two of the Collaborative Challenge students Jessica Curry, MA Costume Design for Performance, and Yifei Wang, MA Fashion Futures, to learn more about their contribution to the Material Collection improvements.
What is the LCF Materials Collection?
The LCF Materials Collection is a space for students to interact with materials that can inform and inspire their work, including materials research, highlighting innovations from across the industry, sourcing information, material provenance and research into sustainability and circular design. We set out a new vision for the student community; ‘LCF’s Materials Collection is your space to get inspired and engage with materials that will help you make the future. Discover the latest in innovations, the oldest in craft and navigate your material responses to contemporary issues.’
How were you involved in making recommendations for the new Materials Collection? What improvements have been made and what’s new?
Jessica: In making recommendations for the new collection, our project group was asked to focus on the student experience in the Collection and their education on materiality and sustainability in art and design. Our team represented five nationalities, five distinct professional backgrounds and four courses across LCF, which allowed us to each take on a different aspect to the project. Given my previous role in sustainable apparel and marketing, my role was focused largely on providing sustainability guidance on materials and certifications, as well as supporting our visual design.
New features such as the draping station and craft and innovation sample areas highlight students’ need to interact tangibly with materials as a method to explore them. These innovation areas are more prominent in the new space, both given its featured location and designed shelving fixtures, to encourage students in discovering and finding inspiration in new materials. We additionally recommended aspects like new branding, informational signage, modular space design, updated sustainability and material categorisation, and a new vision.
Jessica: The recommendations for an updated sustainability categorisation felt particularly important as the new system proposes a more holistic approach. This meant a departure from tags that label materials and simply as ‘sustainable’ or not, a method that doesn’t adequately reflect the real-world spectrum of sustainability, and instead move towards reflecting an intersectional approach as outlined by the Centre of Sustainable Fashion Intersectional Sustainability Framework. This helps encompass ecological, economic, social and cultural sustainability to sustainability lens and positions it more as a ‘north star’ to reach towards systematically, as opposed to a check box that a material achieves or not. Tangibly, this resulted in us proposing material information highlights relevant impact areas within each material to illustrate how trade-offs are inherent to all materials and their processes.
To view the student research and process in full, see here:
Yifei gives insight into the specific areas available to students, such as:
- The display stands and shelving units: In the fabric display stand, information will be organized using a hierarchy. The second type of display rack with wire mesh and drawers adds diversity in the ways we can display different types of materials. It allows students to find the materials they need more clearly.
- The Draping Station: This is one of our tactile engagement spaces. It allows students to feel the touch of individual fabrics better and more carefully.
- The Analyse Area: Students can come here to quietly research and study the materials or books from the collection. This space is close to the window, so, light is sufficient, and the space is quiet without being too stuffy.
Are all LCF students across all courses and disciplines able to use the Materials Collection?
Yes! We’ve worked with course tutors gathering feedback to expand the offering within the Collection to include not only textiles, but also leathers, sold surface, composites, hardware, components, trims, accessories and more. Students can also look for alternative and new innovative materials within this space to find some inspiration for their projects. We’ve recently added some artefacts and objects from the LCF workshops and technicians who we have a key working relationships with; their expert knowledge helps inform the materials we showcase in the collection.
When can students come into the Materials Collection?
The LCF Materials Collection is open for browsing when the library is open. Students are welcome to handle the materials, take pictures, and scan the materials. The samples are reference only and cannot be taken out of the library. Use the information and signs in the collection to help guide you while using the collection. Each sample has accompanying information with company details for further research and contacts if students would like to use the sample in their work. There are also online resources available for students’ materials research, these can be found on the subject guide.
Thanks to all the students who took part in the Material Library Collaborative Challenge:
Pallavi Chamarty, MA Fashion Cultures and Histories
Jessie Curry, MA Costume Design for Performance
Thanya Thamrongthanakit, MA Fashion Artefact
Yifei Wang, MA Fashion Futures
Jane Yoo, MA Fashion Artefact
Justine Voit, MA Fashion Futures
Ziyi LI, MA Fashion Artefact
Ewa Stefanowicz-Wysocka, MA Pattern and Garment Technology
Carrie Wu, MA Fashion Artefact
Xin Zhang, MA Fashion Artefact