British Fashion Council to support students with fabric donations

The British Fashion Council has announced that it is launching the Student Fabric Initiative, a collective community action project that aims to support fashion students across the UK in the face of the pandemic, while reducing waste across the industry.

The initiative aims to support students as they complete their BA fashion degrees, explained the British Fashion Council, while also helping colleges bring sustainability to the forefront of fashion education in the UK.

More than twenty brands and retailers from Paul Smith to Barbour, Craig Green, River Island and Victoria Beckham have joined the initiative and donated materials, including deadstock and unwanted fabric to fashion students at 33 colleges.

Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council, said in a statement: “We are delighted to work with some fantastic brands to meaningfully support the pipeline of creative talent here in the UK with the support of our incredible colleges network.

“One of the British Fashion Council‘s priorities is to encourage the industry to move towards a circular fashion economy while supporting excellence in fashion design. Being able to help students in need while managing to offset waste is an important example of the power of industry-wide collaboration.”

24 brands donate deadstock and unwanted fabric to BFC’s Student Fabric Initiative

The other brands donating fabrics are Asics, Begg x Co, Bianca Saunders, Charlotte Knowles, David Koma, Gabriela Hearst, Halpern, Hamilton and Hare, Knitster Lan, Mackintosh, Natasha Zinko, Orlebar Brown, Per Gotesson, Phoebe English, Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, Qasimi, Roksanda, Simone Rocha, and Sunspel.

In addition, the British Fashion Council said that Burberry facilitated the delivery of the material and that the project was being supported by writer Charlie Porter, with additional help from MatchesFashion, and Fora and Cozette McCreery.

Fashion journalist, Charlie Porter, added: “It’s incredible to see the fashion community come together to help students across the country by donating fabrics. 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.”

The scheme was initially piloted with Burberry earlier this year, added the British Fashion Council, who through ReBurberry Fabric made their own donation of fabric to colleges, allowing for the development of a centralised logistics process for donations and the creation of a blueprint for other brands and colleges to work together to provide practical support for future talent.

Moving forward, the British Fashion Council said it will oversee the logistics of the fabric donation to students across the UK through its Institute of Positive Fashion and Colleges Council.

Image: by Digital Buggu from Pexels