The V&A + Mayor of London x Concept to Catwalk

"Concept to Catwalk" - The Mayors Challenge in partnership with The V&A Museum and Central Saint Martins. The “Concept to Catwalk” campaign was launched in June 2014 for young London students from lower socio-economic backgrounds to explore and celebrate the links between fashion, sustainability and technology giving those who would otherwise consider fashion design as an un-attainable career exposure and access. During the project, London students covering fifteen boroughs were invited to design a new item of clothing that reflected twenty-first-century lifestyles, technology-led innovation in fashion taking inspiration from the rich textile heritage of east London. Partnering with the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Material Futures at Central Saint Martins and MyKindaCrowd schools took advantage of specially produced online resources, visited the V&A archives and took part in an inspiration day featuring some of London’s most exciting designers to support with creating their final entries. 1000+ students took part in the six-month campaign utilising the MyKindaCrowd online challenge platform to submit entries supported by a full suite of articles published by the V&A, mood boards shared via Pinterest and supporting inspiration e-news. The campaign closed with seven finalists being awarded the chance to bring their fashion lines to real-life with Central Saint Martins Material Futures MA students. The campaign closed out with an incredible catwalk staged at the Olympic Park with one finalist winner being picked by the fashion council and Wayne Hemmingway.