February 28, 2018 |
As any Londoner will be only too happy to tell you, this is the best city in the world. And just like the inhabitants of any major capital, there is a pervading belief in a kind of London Exceptionalism, that we are a distinct community, unique to any other in terms of history, diversity and cultural wealth. Peel back those abstract, macro themes though, and what’s left are the people and places that make up our day-to-day experience, the individual components that come together to form something greater than the sum of its parts. Enter Fashion East. This non-profit organisation, founded by Lulu Kennedy and The Old Truman Brewery in 2000 as a means of supporting emerging fashion talent, is the physical embodiment of the nuts and bolts that make London the globally envied city that it is. An initiative that nurtured the talents of JW Anderson, Kim Jones, Richard Nicoll, Martine Rose, Christopher Shannon, Marques’Almeida, Charles Jeffrey and so many more, Fashion East is an embarrassingly large and expensive jewel in London’s preverbial Fashion Crown. Released in three parts with episode one and two already out, i-D explore the Fashion East family over the course of four months, from The Fashion Awards 2017, where two if its alumni triumphed on a global stage, to the most recent shows in February of this year, this is a brilliant insight into the inner workings of the fashion industry’s most vital talent incubator. Keep your eyes peeled for episode 3, released tomorrow on i-D.
