Designed for Empowerment: Cuts and Roots
- Written byJ Tilley
- Published date 14 January 2024
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Designed for Life is a new, free, exhibition exploring London College of Fashion’s, and its partners’ and community collaborators’, decades long commitment to harnessing fashion, design and creative practice as a force for positive social change. The exhibition spans 5 areas of focus and we're taking a closer look at the work showcased among the theme of Designed for Empowerment.
The Cuts and Roots project is a collaboration with local barbershop, ROOTS; Making for Change at Poplar Works became a replica space for men to come together in a creative and collaborative capacity, channelling the unique setting that the barbershop provides to men in the community. Over eight weeks, participants created sleeveless jackets from scratch, learning how to pattern cut, sew and designing a badge that was reflective of their identity. The programme was supported by Sirlute, who provided mentorship and assisted participants in securing funding towards continuing their fashion making journeys.
We caught up with Lauren McKirdy, Special Projects Manager in Social Responsibility at LCF.
What was the purpose of the project?
The project was about creating an opportunity for men to have access to a shared creative space that would enable them to explore their identity. The idea came from discussions with Roots, our local barbershop in Poplar, about how the barbershop was an intergenerational space for men to come together and have discussions and be themselves, we talked about how a lot of creative spaces in the borough had been lost, and the barbershop becoming pivotal in being a "safe space", particularly for younger men. The idea was to see if we could replicate that kind of space through making.
What skills have the participants been able to take away from this experience?
The participants have learnt how to design, pattern cut, measure and construct elements of a jacket. For most of the group this was their first time using a sewing machine, it is amazing to see what they achieved in such a short space of time (6 weeks) and this is largely down to the brilliant team, Rohan and Abbygale from Making for Change.
What have you enjoyed the most about being a part of this project?
A lot of our work has focussed on working with women and children so it was exciting to get to know a different group. It was an opportunity to bring people together in a different way. The participants had such well rounded perspectives on how creativity can impact wellbeing and how they felt fashion should be more accessible to young men. We all finished the project hoping that it might inspire others to have a go at sewing.
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