The British Fashion Council (BFC) has teamed up with more than 20 brands, including Burberry, Victoria Beckham, River Island and Barbour, to donate waste materials to colleges across the UK. The Student Fabric Initiative aims to provide fashion students with high-quality materials that can be reused through their studies. “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,” said Chief Executive, Caroline Rush. “Being able to help students in need while managing to offset waste is an important example of the power of industry-wide collaboration.”
The initiative builds on initial work Burberry started in December, through which it worked closely with the BFC to donate dead stock to young, aspiring designers. At that time, the pair expressed an interest in making the gesture a blueprint for other brands to follow in support of the next generation.
That vision’s now been fulfilled, with Asics, Paul Smith, Craig Green, Beggs x Co, Bianca Saunders, David Koma, Halpern and Phoebe English amongst the companies to have pledged their dead stock to the cause. As many as 33 colleges across the UK have partnered with the BFC for this. BA fashion degree students will gain access to a consistent stream of surplus materials that they can repurpose to support their education.
“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,” noted Rush. The BFC will oversee the logistics of the operation, ensuring all participating colleges are able to leverage donated materials.
Writer Charlie Porter, which is supporting the project, said: “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.”
