The Portal Centre for Social Impact is a space at London College of Fashion (LCF), UAL where students, designers and communities collaborate to facilitate positive social change.
For World Book Day 2025, The Portal Centre for Social Impact partnered with LCF’s BA (Hons) Costume for Performance students to bring a curriculum project to life in collaboration with community partners Discover Children's Story Centre and Stratford Library.
LCF students were tasked with designing costume props inspired Nadia Shireen’s children’s books, and to lead and curate public, family-led workshops. Over 2 weeks, the LCF students provided workshops for over 180 children under the age of 11. Milly Pinkerton, BA (Hons) Costume for Performance student, worked on the project, and we asked her how she found her experience.
The project was all about inspiring children to read through play. We worked on planning and executing craft workshops aimed at developing children’s creative skills by making World Book Day costumes, encouraging the practice of making over purchasing.
We worked alongside a lot of different organisations, which meant we had plenty of support and guidance. While most of us had previous involvement volunteering and working with young children, this was still a new experience, so learning directly from industry professionals was an enriching and unique opportunity.
In my workshops I explored the concepts of free play, looking at how children design when they are given free use of materials. Their outcomes were all diverse and innovative, making things beyond what I had thought possible with the materials. Watching this method of imaginative design made me re-evaluate my own practice of idea development.
Although we are taught as creatives to experiment with materials, I have always put pressure on the experimentation process, hoping for all my results to be exactly as imagined. However, this practice of play as a form of research, using the materials before designing with them, is something I would like to use in my own creative practice. To connect with the properties, limitations and behaviour of the materials you’re working with.
I feel working in pairs for this project gave a realistic look into an industry, as most creative fields work in teams. I gained an understanding of how to develop ideas which complement each other both visually and practically, within time restraints and space.
We were also given the opportunity to work as a larger group of 8. This dynamic was wildly different to working as a pair. We had a quick turnaround of 4 days, so dividing up tasks was important. Everyone was assigned clear roles, the plan was decided on promptly, and we had regular progress checks leading to the event. This was really enriching learning, helping me to engross myself in the feeling of working in industry.
Working with the Portal Centre at LCF was an inspiring process because it was clear an impact was being made. From the responses of parents and caretakers to the children attending, everyone was gaining something from the activities.
It was heart-warming to watch the children ask questions about the books, come up with their own stories, and play with the outcomes of the activities. I feel that giving children the opportunity to experience workshops similar to these could enhance their creative minds and connection to literature, design, and care for the environment.
This project allowed me to involve myself in an industry I had never experienced before. I learned so much and developed skills relevant to the industry, planning, collaboration, and my own creative practice. Our workshops were enjoyed by so many children, and we were able to celebrate an author who is known for her beautiful and educational books, which we all thoroughly enjoyed reading! It was a project I really enjoyed and am super grateful to have participated in.
Follow Milly on Instagram: @mpcostumier