In collaboration with Royal College of Art, the West London retail destination will promote local talent’s sustainable designs at an exhibition in August 2021
This Spring, Westfield London is launching ‘Future Fashion’ a sustainable design competition in collaboration with the Royal College of Art who are based next to the centre at White City. The search will unveil London creatives that prioritise sustainability in their creation process and top designs across a number of artistic forms including textiles, illustration and jewellery and will be showcased at Europe’s largest shopping centre later in the summer in an exhibition celebrating sustainable fashion.
Artists are invited to submit design plans of their proposed work which will be assessed by a panel of judges from internationally recognised brands. These include the Royal College of Art, John Lewis & Partners, Save Your Wardrobe, Emily Carter London and Love not Landfill. Future Fashion is part of 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.
Achieving this target within the Better Places strategy involved each centre in the Westfield portfolio conducting a comprehensive audit of local stakeholders as well as identifying the key challenges facing the local communities. This audit paved the way for identifying the right local partners to work with based on key community needs and how Westfield centres would be best placed to support those needs. The Community Resilience Programme will result in designing relevant projects which enable the communities to flourish.
Future Fashion is the first of these major projects attached to the Community Resilience Plan to launch in 2021 and it will see the judges selecting six finalists, commissioning each artist with £2,000 to complete their proposed works. The finished pieces will be exhibited in Westfield London’s eight exhibition windows in August 2021, located on Silver Walk. Each window will showcase of one of six different artistic media; textiles, sculpture, painting, photography, graphic design, and jewellery.
To select the finalists, Westfield London has teamed up with a panel of judges from internationally recognised brands, all of whom share a passion for both fashion and climate change:
• Harita Shah, Marketing Director UK and Creative, Media, Events & Brand – Europe at URW
• David Donovan, Head of Branch, John Lewis White City
• Hasna Kourda, CEO and Co-Founder of Save Your Wardrobe
• Emily Carter, Director and CEO of Emily Carter London and Emily Carter Studio
• Flora McLean, Senior Lecturer at The Royal College of Art,
• Hannah Carter, Campaign Manager for Love Not Landfill, ReLondon (previously London Waste & Recycling Board)
Harita Shah, Marketing Director UK and Creative, Media, Events & Brand – Europe at URW says: “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.”
David Donovan, Head of Branch, John Lewis White City says “Working in a sustainable retail world is something I’m excited about. The John Lewis Partnership has made so much progress since I joined the company as a youngster and I’m proud of the way we’ve always tried to trade in a very ethical and sustainable way – investing in supporting small suppliers and the communities we work in. Since I arrived at Westfield London last year, I’ve been blown away by the opportunities that lie ahead, not only as a successful retailer but also as a member of a thriving local community. It’s a great starting point and one I hope to be able to bring to life here at John Lewis White City. “
Entries to the competition are now open and more information can be found on the Westfield London website. The deadline to submit applications is 12th April 2021 which can be submitted to ukwlcommunity@urw.com
All upcoming URW UK community activity will form part of the organisation’s UK community resilience programme. Each project will have meaningful and positive impacts on those living closest to the centres.
For further information on Westfield London and its community initiatives, please visit www.westfield.com/london.
