The new residents from the Founders Club include creative pattern cutting fashion brand ChenChen Studio, functional and timeless fashion brand SAVVAS ALEXANDER, adaptive fashion brand Intotum Adaptive Fashion, womenswear accessories designer Clara Chu, bespoke tailoring brand KYLE HO, innovation and sustainability hub THE FASHION BLUEPRINT, and contemporary feminine womenswear brand ByVarga.
LCF Founders Club is a support network exclusive to LCF alumni working as freelancers or running registered businesses, both in the UK and globally. Since its inception in 2016, the club has grown to almost 500 active members.
Being a member means having access to a range of resources, such as consultations with industry specialists and networking events. Besides, the members can also work on paid consultancy projects for industry clients to enhance their visibility within the creative industries.
Membership is open to all LCF graduates who have a registered business or practise or are trading as freelancers. The application form is sent out to all graduating students, but if they are not ready to become a fully-fledged founder quite yet, they can embark on a scheme of work designed to support them with getting to the next stage.
“It's really important for us to show how we’re supporting our alumni businesses once they leave the College,” says Kate Smith, Business and Innovation Project Manager. “The value of having the Founders Club is staying connected to LCF, having that peer-to-peer support and being connected to the industry and its network.”
Among the perks available to the members of the club is rent-free studio spaces in Poplar Works, a thriving fashion hub for budding entrepreneurs situated in the heart of East London. Every two years, seven founders are offered a complimentary studio space to support emerging talent during the pivotal early stages of their business.
The collaboration with Poplar Works is the result of a decade’s worth of work between LCF, the Mayor of London, the Development Agency for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the Fashion District and the property owners of Poplar Works— a development agency for community and social housing and purpose.
To address the needs of the local community, the site was redeveloped into creative studio spaces that initially provided apprenticeships, small productions runs, and up-skilling sessions for female inmates. Now, the space is fully dedicated to nurturing the next generation of talent from the Founders Club.
Throughout the 2-years-long residency, all members receive coaching from the Graduate Futures team to help them devise a growth strategy. “We’re meeting to see how they are, if they are meeting their objectives, if they need to pivot or adjust,” explains Frances Odell, Head of Graduate Futures Consultants. “It’s more of an enabling relationship via acting as a sounding board and interrogate some of their plans so they always have a fall-back position.”
Some founders choose to stay focused on growing their company, while others change their business idea altogether. However, Odell is certain that the residency will help clarify in which direction to progress and having a safe space means that emerging businesses don’t feel the need to adhere to constant shifts within the creative sector.
“When the sea is really choppy, you don’t try to swim in it — you just tread water until it settles and then you look at where you need to navigate,” she notes.
Having worked with some founders ever since they were students, Odell is equally excited to see their journey as well as where they find themselves after the residency. Some of the previous residents have gone on to win awards, bring in investments worth up to £500,000, and find new ways to innovate and grow.
“It’s almost like a journey of self-discovery because you can follow your plan and have an idea of where you want to be in 2 years’ time — and you need that — but more importantly it’s about maturing,” she says.
Before she joined the Founders Club, fashion designer Chenchen was making design samples in her living room and felt alone facing the challenges that running a new fashion business requires. She is certain that being surrounded by other creative businesses will foster the sense of a community and being in the process together.
“When you step in, you are one person, when you’ll step out, you’ll be another person,” Chenchen says.
London-based womenswear accessories Clara Chu is keen to create products with Making for Change, a purpose-built fashion production and training hub based at Poplar Works that supports social justice by offering sustainable manufacturing services, skills development, and employment opportunities to underrepresented communities.
Talal Al-Khamiri, Community Manager at Poplar Works, is curious to see how the new residents will tansform the empty studios into their own worlds.
“Making the space their own is the most exciting part — at the moment it’s just a blank canvas,” he says.