Future Fashion 2021: West London’s Sustainable Fashion Competition

What is it?

Westfield London is a supporter of entrepreneurs and innovative fashion solutions to create a more sustainable future.

In line with Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s Better Places 2030 strategy, Westfield London, in collaboration with the Royal College of Art, is launching ‘Future Fashion’, a sustainable fashion competition offering London creatives the chance to showcase their work in an exhibition dedicated to eco-friendly art and design, recognising local talent as well as promoting sustainable consumption.

The competition will require applicants to submit design plans of their proposed works, which will be assessed by a panel of judges from internationally recognised brands including the Royal College of Art, John Lewis & Partners, Save Your Wardrobe, Emily Carter London and Love not Landfill. The judges will select 6 finalists, commissioning each artist with £2,000 to complete their proposed works and offering them an exhibition window spaces at Westfield London to display their work.

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.

How does it work?

The judges will form their assessments based on the following criteria:

1. Medium

Textile, sculpture, jewellery, graphics, photography or illustration. The judges will select one artist from each category to commission their artwork and exhibit.

2. Message

It must encourage and promote sustainability.

3. Format

All entries must be sent as a PDF file to ukwlcommunity@urw.com and titled Future Fashion. Each submission must be no longer than 5 pages in total, of which the first page must include name, email address, London based postcode this could reflect where you live, study or work and your chosen medium. One other page must include an A4 visual of your final piece. The remaining 3 pages can be used to show your journey and the story behind your final piece. This can be documented using visuals and a maximum of 300 words.

4. Content

The final product will be exhibited to the public for a minimum of 6 months, therefore it cannot decay or include indecent imagery or wording.

5. Terms and Conditions

All entries will be subject to the terms and conditions and privacy policy as set out here.

Timeline

March 2021: Competition start date.

12th April 2021: Deadline to submit applications.

3rd May 2021: 6 finalists announced.

21st July 2021: Deadline for the final commissioned pieces.

August 2021: Exhibition goes live.

Meet The Judges

Harita Shah, Director of Brand, Creative, Media, Comms and Events at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield

Harita has over 20 years of fashion marketing experience and oversees all creative campaigns in URW’s 12 markets, working with leading brands and talent. As a group, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield provides a unique platform for retailers, offering unique destinations for brand events and immersive experiences for visitors. Harita ensures campaigns and events are memorable, innovative and drive footfall to the largest shopping centres in Europe.

Hasna Kourda CEO and Co-Founder of Save Your Wardrobe

Hasna Kourda is the CEO and co-founder of Save Your Wardrobe, a digital wardrobe platform that offers users personalised recommendations and connects them with third party service providers. Kourda was born and raised in Tunisia with strong values of circularity and zero waste. After witnessing how people in the UK are disconnected from the clothes in their wardrobe and the resulting waste driven by such behaviour, Kourda came up with the idea of Save Your Wardrobe. Her passion for circular economy and fashion led her to co-found the company with Mehdi Doghri in 2017. Save Your Wardrobe is working towards the goal of extending the lifecycle of fashion products. The virtual wardrobe recommendations are based on the user’s lifestyle, calendar, weather and post-purchase data. Furthermore, the platform offers a curated eco-system of services (repairs, alteration, donations, selling, etc). Save Your Wardrobe has been in the Centre for Fashion Enterprise incubator, the Fashion For Good Plug and Play accelerator and at the Farfetch startup programme, Dream Assembly. Kourda has a background in Economics and Corporate Strategy with a focus on 'How to Optimise Finite Resources when creating Wealth’. Having studied Applied Economy at Paris Dauphine University, she was prompted to co-write the book L'essentiel d'un marché Tunisie regarding the Tunisian trading market, for the French Embassy in Tunisia.

Emily Carter Director and CEO of Emily Carter London and Emily Carter Studio

Emily Carter is an award-winning British designer, specialising in hand illustrated silk accessories, stationery and furnishings. Each product is intricately illustrated by hand and made in England. Emily is a member of the British Fashion Council having exhibited at London Fashion Week since 2016, and has been featured regularly in publications such as British Vogue and The Financial Times, where her scarves have been worn by icons such as Kate Moss. Her luxury accessories are also stocked internationally in stores such as Selfridges.

Flora McLean Senior Lecturer at The Royal College of Art

Experienced Senior Lecturer with a demonstrated history of working in the design industry with her own label House of Flora. Skilled in hat design, making and embellishment, fine art, craft techniques, design, photography, drawing knowledge of material, social media and sales management. Strong education professional with a MA Fashion focused in Womenswear from The Royal College of Art. Flora leads the Footwear Accessories Millinery and Eyewear pathway inside MA Fashion at the Royal College of Art. Her research focus is multi-sensory, combining material investigations with sound/vibrations/ music and movement/dance. Flora continues her own accessory label alongside lecturing and writing. Flora lives locally to Westfield in White City in West London.

David Donovan Head of branch, John Lewis White City

David Donavan is Head of Branch at John Lewis White City, the stunning four-floor department store which opened three years ago as the anchor shop of Westfield London’s extension. David joined the John Lewis Partnership 23 years ago in John Lewis Brent Cross. Since then, his journey has involved a number of varied and challenging roles in several locations, including Cambridge, High Wycombe, (where he was one of the leads on a multi-million pound Fashion refurbishment) and Cardiff, as Head of Branch. During a secondment to Head Office as a Business Development Manager, David worked on enabling more efficient, technology-focused stock management processes across the John Lewis estate and signed off the back of house areas for all new shops - including White City. David has also worked in Waitrose - running Four Oaks as Branch Manager - and this experience is invaluable at a time when Waitrose and John Lewis’s strategies are more closely aligned than ever before and both brands see sustainability as a priority.

Hannah Carter Campaign Manager for Love Not Landfill, ReLondon (previously London Waste & Recycling Board)

Hannah joined ReLondon in August 2017 to create and run the Love Not Landfill campaign initially funded by EU Life (until December 2019) and subsequently by ReLondon and other funding partners. Prior to this Hannah worked in Public Relations, both agency and in-house, across various sectors based in London, Shanghai and Amsterdam. After a career break in 2010 to have and look after her two daughters she embarked on a mission to use her communications experience to tackle the issue of fashion and climate change and completed a series of courses before joining ReLondon to create Love Not Landfill. The fashion industry’s impact on the planet is Hannah’s personal and professional passion and she works with schools and other organisations outside of her role with Love Not Landfill to further the cause.