East London’s fashion hub is to get a cash boost to the tune of almost GBP2m (US$2.8m) following a successful bid to the Mayor of London by a partnership convened by London College of Fashion and the University of the Arts London (UAL).
The GBP1.99m funding grant will support the growth of London’s fashion talent, innovation and creativity and will be invested into projects across the areas of Poplar, Bow and Hackney Wick.
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It was secured thorough a bid to the Mayor’s ‘Good Growth Fund‘ by Fashion District, a partnership convened by London College of Fashion, UAL and aligned with the UK Industrial Strategy.
Fashion District works to brings together fashion, technology, business and education to meet, compete, collaborate and innovate, and aims to strengthen London’s position as the global capital of fashion technology.
The Fashion District bid, entitled ‘Lower Lea Threads’, will deliver a collection of workspace, skills development programmes and financing initiatives. It will create sustainable growth for the fashion industry across the Lower Lea Valley by supporting fashion entrepreneurs, students, local community groups, businesses and employees:
- Fashioning Poplar Phase 2 (led by housing association Poplar HARCA): This is an extension of ‘Fashioning Poplar’, a project converting underutilised garages into affordable design studio space; education facilities and a garment manufacturing and training hub run by London College of Fashion, UAL; a café and community garden. Phase 2 will deliver an additional 31 affordable business units dedicated to fashion start-ups, contributing to 2448 sq metres of new fashion workspace across Fashioning Poplar.
- Monier Road Studios (led by workspace provider The Trampery): The fit-out of seven high-specification studios (441 sq metres of affordable workspace) for growth-stage fashion designers at Monier Road, supporting promising domestic brands to enter the competitive fashion market. It will cater to those labels that have come through earlier fashion support programmes, such as Fashioning Poplar, and are in a position to become larger job-creators and exporters. The scheme is part of the broader 4,180 sq metres Fish Island Fashion Campus at the Olympic Park.
- Loan financing to fashion SMEs (led by London Fashion Fund): Access to finance is one of the primary barriers to entry for many fashion start-ups. Good Growth funding will support a loan-financing scheme connecting retailers, designers and makers with a variety of investors and funding streams. Good Growth funding will be specifically targeted at early-stage fashion businesses with sustainable outcomes, supporting 25 fashion enterprises and leveraging a further GBP600,000 in private sector investment.
In addition, the Mayor’s GBP2m investment will leverage a further GBP4m worth of non-public funding for the projects. This includes ‘East Works: Fashion’, a comprehensive skills and business development programme across fashion workspaces and businesses within the Lower Lea Valley and Olympic Park, delivered by London Legacy Development Corporation, The Trampery and British Fashion Council. The scheme will work with industry to help 60 people into employment, upskill 100 people, sustain 51 jobs, as well as supporting 155 people and 35 businesses.
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By GlobalDataThe fit-out of Monier Road Studios will be completed in September, the East Works: Fashion and the London Fashion Fund programmes will launch from autumn 2018 and Fashioning Poplar phase 2 will be completed in spring 2019.
