Home Turf: Exploring identity, masculinity and self-expression through football and fashion
- Written byLondon College of Fashion
- Published date 14 May 2026
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A new exhibition at London College of Fashion, UAL, brings together fashion, football and honest conversation to rethink how young men are seen, and how they see themselves.
Opening on 13 May 2026 at London College of Fashion, UAL’s East Bank home, Home Turf invites visitors into a space shaped by collaboration, creativity and lived experience.
The exhibition brings together a community of co-creators who challenge the narrow portrayals of working-class young men often seen in the media. Instead, Home Turf creates room for something more nuanced: a collective story told on their own terms.
"The exhibition truly shows the essence of the project: telling the reality of guys in and around east London, capturing their stories and giving people like them and myself an actual voice, visibility and some agency near a place we call home" – Ashton Jones-Frame, Cultural Producer (LCF Placement)
A different way of seeing masculinity
Through a mix of fashion photography, candid analogue images and personal football memorabilia, the exhibition captures moments of honesty and connection. Visitors will encounter fragments of intimate conversations alongside visual work that feels both personal and immediate.
Together, these elements offer a reimagined view of masculinity – one that embraces openness, vulnerability and community. It’s a shift away from stereotypes, towards a more layered understanding of identity.
Co-creation at the centre
Home Turf was developed at LCF between February and May 2026, bringing together young men from the East Bank community with interdisciplinary postgraduate students.
At its heart is a series of one-to-one conversations led by cultural producer and fashion stylist Ashton Jones-Frame, working with LCF via Creative Newham’s Cultural Producer Programme, whose practice is shaped by his working-class, multicultural east London upbringing. Using football and fashion as shared reference points, these conversations move beyond surface-level discussion to explore identity, culture and personal experience.
What emerges is a body of work that feels both deeply individual and collectively resonant – revealing voices and perspectives that are not often given space to be heard in full.
Listen to Ben Stone, Slim, Jahzeen Vassall, Josh Neto, and Zak Saeed interviews.
A shared creative platform
The exhibition is produced by the Portal Centre for Social Impact in collaboration with LCF Kit Room and Studios, Print Studio and Darkrooms.
It also forms part of The Music is Black Festival, an East Bank-wide programme of events and performances running from April to November 2026. The festival celebrates the V&A East Museum’s inaugural exhibition, The Music is Black: A British Story, and connects creative communities across Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Visit the Home Turf exhibition, open to all from 13 May – 14 June at LCF’s East Bank campus, Mezzanine level.
- Read more LCF Stories
- Find out more about the Home Turf project
- Explore Creative Newham’s Cultural Producers Programme
- Find out LCF Making for Change