New! Fashion Revolution Open Studios
Fashion Revolution Week launches Fashion Revolution Open Studios. Curated by writer and journalist Tamsin Blanchard, designers around the world are opening up their studios, hosting workshops and talking about how they make their clothes as part of Fashion Revolution’s #whomademyclothes #imadeyourclothes campaign.
The aim? To connect consumers more intimately to their clothes than ever before by showing them how clothes are made, who makes them and why they make the decisions they make - to work sustainably, to use ethical materials, to re-embrace craft.
“We want to celebrate the invisible process behind designers’ finished collections, the intimacy of a studio, the reality of the team, and see the people that make out clothes,” says Fashion Revolution co-founder Orsola de Castro.
“Open Studios is an opportunity to shine a light on a group of emerging designers - and some established trailblazers - who are finding alternative ways of producing fashion that is mindful of the planet and its resources,” says Blanchard.
“It’s not something they talk about as a PR exercise. It’s not about sustainability per se. It's just integral to the way they live and work,” she continues. “As the existing fashion system continues to find new ways to exist, smaller, artisanal designers have a stronger voice.
“They are designers who enjoy connecting to their own communities. Fashion Revolution is the perfect platform to showcase the work of these designers, both in the UK and internationally. They all work in very different ways but are united in their mission to make fashion better.”
EVENT: KATIE JONES Fashion Revolution Open Studio Workshop
WHEN: Wednesday, April 26th, 2017, 2pm to 4pm.
WHERE: 308 Cockpit Arts, 18-22 Creekside, Deptford SE8 3DZ Queen of Crochet Katie Jones kicks off the Open Studios with a workshop showing how to use the new Katie Jones X Beyond Retro #revolutionrange patches. Jones will be teaching how to crochet using surplus fabrics from the studio as well as how to create your own leather and crochet patches to give old clothes new life #DIY #lovedclotheslast
Buy tickets here: www.eventbrite.com
EVENT: Jodie Ruffle WHEN: Thursday, April 27th, 2017, 10am to 4pm. WHERE: Studio 42, Top Floor, 270-276 Kingsland Road, London E8 4DG
Jodie Ruffle is a fashion and textile designer whose work centres around a return to traditional craft. Her embroidery techniques value the beauty of imperfections and unpredictabilities, a wabi-sabi approach, often created inside out, revealing the raw qualities of stitch, emphasising all the imperfections that happen during the creative process. Each piece is created by hand, always with consideration for sustainability and social responsibility.
On Thursday 27th April, Ruffle opens her shared East London space and will live-create new hand embroidered pieces. “Anyone who comes can have a look at my past collections, try some pieces on, chat to me, watch the 360 film I made,’ said Ruffle. “I will be working throughout the day on a new project so will have embroidery frames etc set up. It would be nice to be able to show people how I work.”
Buy tickets here www.eventbrite.co.uk
EVENT: Open Studios at Instituto Marangoni WHEN: Fri 28 April 2017, 2pm to 3.30pm.WHERE: Instituto Marangoni, 30 Fashion Street, London E1 6PX.
Be inspired by a day of talks at the world-famous Instituto Marangoni. There’ll be an open studios with: Michelle Lowe-Holder, a designer known for intricate weaving and complex folding techniques; LCF MA Fashion Design Technology Menswear graduate Bethany Williams whose final collection Breadline used waste materials from food banks and recycled cardboard from Tesco; JJ Hudson aka Dr Noki, a pioneer of upcycling; Holly Allenby, founder of influential e-commerce site The-Acey.
EVENT: Behind the Scenes by Po Zu WHEN: Friday April 28th 2017, 2pm to 3.30pm WHERE: Po-Zu, Unit 403, United House, North Road, London N7 9DP
Po-Zu's founder, Sven Segal and new Managing Director, Safia Minney will go behind the scenes of Po-Zu and the SS17 collection of the brand’s beautiful, ethically made shoes, including the new Star Wars™ | Po-Zu collaboration.
Please note: space for this event is strictly limited to 20 and will be offered on a first come first serve basis. Buy tickets here www.eventbrite.co.uk
EVENT: Come Design with Us! by The Autonomous Collections X Fashion Revolution Open Studio WHEN: Sat 29 April 2017, 12:00 – 15:00 BST WHERE: UEL, Knowledge Dock Business Centre, 4-6 University way, London E16 2RD
The Autonomous Collections takes an ethical approach to fabrication and design and offers a bold aesthetic that is wearable and considered. This workshop will include a sneak peek into next season’s collection and helping design two of those garments. A percentage of each jacket sold will be donated to Fashion Revolution.
Buy tickets here www.eventbrite.co.uk
EVENT: Kepler WHEN: April 29th, 2017, 11am to 1pm. WHERE: STUDIO 23, 89 RIDLEY ROAD, E8 2NH
Try your hand at making your own fabric lino prints with Dalston-based brand Kepler. Kepler takes inspiration from traditional methods of garment making and cultures from across the globe. The aesthetic is utilitarian but refined. For Fashion Revolution, Kepler opens its studio to give you an insight to its working world and to see the production and process of the brand’s Season 1 handmade lino print. #linoprint #fashionrevolution #whomademyclothes
Buy tickets here www.eventbrite.co.uk
EVENT: Stitch Academy - “Tote-tastic” Design & Make with Christopher Raeburn
WHEN: Saturday, April 29th 2017, 1.30pm to 3.30pm. WHERE: The Textile Building Studio 1, 29a Chatham Place, Hackney, London E9 6FJ
Christopher Raeburn will be hosting several open studio events throughout the week, including a VIP evening and a daytime public workshop where guests will be invited to make and customise their own tote bag using off cuts from his production. Raeburn will also conduct studio tours of his space in the old Burberry factory in Hackney, east London.
“I am very proud of my studio and like to open it up as a creative and community hub whenever I can, with regular workshops to teach people how to sew as well as how to repair and customise their clothes and accessories,” he said. He is partnering with Avery Dennison and has invested in ten new sewing machines for his workshop programme and is looking forward to helping people stitch and personalise their own #TotesRemade bags.
Get tickets here www.eventbrite.co.uk
There will also be a chance to meet and make with some of London’s most exciting young designers and their teams who are finding new ways of producing their collections so they can control their fabric choices, supply chains and processes. My personal favourite: John Alexander Skelton, recipient of the Sarabande: The Lee Alexander McQueen Foundation Scholarship and winner of the L’Oreal prize at the end of his CSM MA last year. Skelton recently showed his third menswear collection, at Sarabande, with hand-woven fabrics, one-off jackets made from antique trouser linings as well as Victorian corduroy workers’ trousers, rare breed wools and fabrics made in British mills.
Get involved: http://fashionrevolution.org/#fashrevstudios #whomademyclothes #imadeyourclothes
