On 1 November 2023, The Merchant Taylors’ Hall witnessed an extraordinary event in support of the Lord Mayor’s City Giving Day. The Grade 1 listed building, with a rich history dating back to the 14th century, provided the perfect backdrop for an evening that seamlessly merged fashion and sustainability.
The evening featured a series of fashion shows, showcasing garments from Rococo Luxe, a Boutique born out of lockdown, and Sue Ryder charity shops. Commencing with insights from the Lord Mayor of the City of London, followed by Janet Pope, Chief Sustainability Officer at Lloyds Banking Group, the overarching message was clear: the collaboration of businesses, employees, communities, and charities yields transformative impacts.
A highlight of the event was the involvement of Level 3 International: Introduction to the Study of Fashion (IIFS) students. Taking centre stage, these students breathed new life into pre-loved garments from Sue Ryder’s Charity shop, embodying the ethos of ‘re-wear, repurpose, and regenerate’. The students, tasked with redesigning items from 'mystery bags,' showcased their creations, demonstrating that sustainable fashion is both innovative and stylish.
The students' journey began with extensive research and inspiration-seeking from the street art of Shoreditch. They applied their findings in smaller groups to the 'mystery bag' items, ultimately presenting a collection of redesigned garments during the event. This hands-on approach to sustainability within the fashion industry served as the culmination of their learning experience, bridging theory with practice.
Various entities including UAL students and staff, Sue Ryder Charity, Lloyds Bank, the UAL legal team and Art Temps were involved in making this a success. Lindsey Riley, Programme Director, Product, and Interim Associate Dean at London College of Fashion, UAL, played a pivotal role in leading this unprecedented collaboration. Her responsibilities included coordinating the catwalk show bringing together the various teams and resources to make it happen. This involved navigating their way through the aspirations, limitations, funding, and legalities concerning the event. In an exclusive interview, Riley shared her insights on the project's impact on student learning and future opportunities:
How was your experience leading the project, and how does it enhance students' learning and future opportunities?
It offers students real -world industry exposure, invaluable contacts, self-confidence, and the experience of contributing to a greater cause. The overwhelming success has everyone excited about the prospect of an annual event. The dedication and talent that came together were astounding. It was remarkable to witness the transformation achieved by the students in such a short time, and working with the teams from Lloyds and Sue Ryder was incredibly rewarding.
Adding to the fun, was a competition among the LCF teams, culminating in one winning team comprising Xinle Zou, Wenxin Gao, Tomiris Orazbakova, Chaewon Lee, and Kelsey Tang.
Further perspectives were gathered from conversations with the students directly involved in the project:
"Sustainability is such a huge issue, and the fashion industry is seriously flawed. We partnered with Sue Ryder, who provided these lovely garments that we were able to rework as groups. We started on September 11th this year and solely worked on this. We had limited time to sew them but we used most of our time doing research. We went to Shoreditch to get inspiration from the street art, and all the groups used it in their own way. We were adjusted to the fast-paced nature of the industry, and I'm just truly grateful." - Carmela Dias
"The project was just really valuable because it wasn't just about design and repurposing but we spent the entire unit looking into sustainability throughout all facets of fashion. For example, we did a project on creating a sustainable business idea within fashion where my group came up with upcycling used garments and personalizing them to consumer preferences which influenced this project. Our group worked with trench coats and button-up shirts and created skirts out of them by using volume and cinching which was cool. It helped us intuitively design." - Ryman Yang
"Going to Shoreditch and looking at street art, vintage, and charity shops was really inspiring. We took a lot of pictures, cut them up, and arranged them on models to create silhouette collages which got our creative juices flowing. We all worked in smaller groups, so it really brought out all of our strengths which was great. We were able to apply the theory from the unit very well into this project practically." - Hanna Ruthrof
"The entire unit was focused on this project. We got these mystery bags from Sue Ryder and we just had to work with them which was very interesting because the garments guide you. My group made a dress out of a hoodie and you just can't tell what it used to be. We had a styling session during the unit where we experienced a lot of creative stimulation because we were specially asked to picture a skirt as anything else but a skirt which was really cool and helped with this project. I hope that when people look at these garments, they realize that second hand doesn't mean outdated and that it can be really cool." - Valeria Rodriguez
LCF's involvement in this event not only showcased the transformative power of sustainable fashion but also underscored the institution's commitment to fostering real-world industry exposure and instilling a sense of purpose in its students, paving the way for future collaborations.
Written by Simran Sanghavi - MA Strategic Fashion Marketing