Westfield London launches sustainable design competition

Westfield London is collaborating with the Royal College of Art to launch a sustainable design competition to promote local talent. 

The ‘Future Fashion’ competition is looking to discover emerging creatives in London who are prioritising sustainability to be featured in an exhibition celebrating sustainable fashion and design in the shopping centre later in the summer.

The search is calling on London creatives who work across textiles, illustration and jewellery to submit design plans of their proposed work to a judging panel including Royal College of Art, John Lewis and Partners, Save Your Wardrobe, Emily Carter London and Love not Landfill.

Judges are looking for submissions that promote and encourage sustainable consumption, and uses sustainable materials, fair trade products and ethical fabrics, explained Westfield London, as well as encouraging consumers to purchase from a sustainable supply-chain and promote the upcycling of clothing.

Six finalists will be selected by the judging panel and each will receive 2,000 pounds to complete their proposed works. 

Future Fashion competition launches to promote sustainable fashion across textiles, illustration and jewellery

The finished pieces will be exhibited in Westfield London’s eight exhibition windows in August 2021, located on Silver Walk. Each window will showcase one of six different artistic media - textiles, sculpture, painting, photography, graphic design, and jewellery.

Harita Shah, marketing director UK and creative, media, events and brand - Europe at URW said in a statement: “We’re proud to launch this new competition, Future Fashion, to discover creative talent in our London community. We’re passionate about nurturing talent from our local area and supporting our shared passion for sustainability in fashion as part of our wider Community Resilience Programme. 

“Here at Westfield London we strive to educate and entertain our visitors and through this competition we will be bringing fantastic creatives into our centre. I look forward to reviewing the entries and ultimately seeing the winning work displayed for everyone to enjoy and learn from.”

Future Fashion is the first of the projects attached to Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s UK community resilience programme, a five-year action plan that consolidates all the company’s work in its communities aligned to URW’s global ‘Better Places 2030’ strategy. The deadline for applications is April 12, with submissions by e-mail to ukwlcommunity@urw.com.

The six finalists will be announced on May 3, with deadlines for final commissioned pieces being July 21, ahead of the exhibition in August.  Image: via Westfield London website