April 8, 2021 |
Remember back in December when Charlie Porter joined forces with Burberry to launch a fabric donation scheme to help fashion students in the face of the pandemic? Well, he’s only gone and got a whole load of other brands involved, hasn’t he?
Working alongside Porter, Matches Fashion, Fora and Cozette McCreery, the British Fashion Council today launches the Student Fabric Initiative. 24 UK and international-based brands have formed a collective action community in which they will donate deadstock and unwanted materials to 33 collages across the country.
The brands taking part include Asics, Barbour, Begg x Co, Bianca Saunders, Charlotte Knowles, Craig Green, David Koma, Gabriela Hearst, Halpern, Hamilton and Hare, Knitster LDN, Mackintosh, Natasha Zinko, Orlebar Brown, Paul Smith, Per Götesson, Phoebe English, Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, Qasimi, River Island, Roksanda, Simone Rocha, Sunspel and Victoria Beckham.
The programme will support students studying BA Fashion degrees all over the UK and aims to help teach fashion’s next generation how to future-proof the industry by reducing as much waste as possible.
“It’s incredible to see the fashion community come together to help students across the country by donating fabrics,” writes Porter in a statement. “This collective action is in response to the pandemic but will hopefully become a model for how designers and brands can give back in the years ahead, placing sustainability at the heart of UK fashion education.”
Photograph: Craig Green AW20 by Jason Lloyd-Evans.
