LCF’s Centre for Sustainable Fashion and Kering came together at 180 Strand, home of London Fashion Week to launch the world’s first online course in luxury fashion and sustainability – Fashion & Sustainability: Understanding Luxury Fashion in a Changing World.
The British Fashion Council, designers, industry figures and journalists joined the event in celebration of the course, which embodies Kering and CSF’s commitment to open-sourcing knowledge and serves as an important tool to fashion industry professionals and students alike. It will enable participants to develop an understanding of innovative sustainable fashion research and business practice and help them to explore what is important to them and their approach to sustainability.
Caroline Rush, Chief Executive of the British Fashion Council introduced the morning’s proceedings. She said:
In 2018 London Fashion Week focuses on Positive Fashion, an initiative designed to promote and celebrate diversity, sustainability, and openness; encouraging fashion to be used as a platform to promote global positive change, so we are thrilled that Kering and LCF have chosen to launch their new open-access digital course dedicated to sustainability with us today. Every season we see an increase in designer brands at LFW adhering to sustainable principles within their businesses and in turn promoting and contributing to positive change within our industry.”
Caroline Rush, BFC – Frances-Corner, LCF,- François-Henri Pinault, Kering. Photo by Shaun James Cox / British Fashion Council.
François–Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of Kering said:
At Kering we believe that the shift towards sustainability and innovation in luxury fashion is not only an imperative, in our world of finite resources, but also a goldmine of opportunity. We actively work with our Houses to craft tomorrow’s luxury via our 2025 sustainability strategy, but also wish to contribute to the evolution of luxury fashion as a whole, by sharing our expertise with industry counterparts and educating future generations. Today I am proud that Kering’s partnership with London College of Fashion takes a new step, making education accessible outside of the classroom with this the world’s first open-access digital course on sustainable luxury fashion.”
Professor Frances Corner
Professor Frances Corner, Head of London College of Fashion, UAL said:
Over a year in the making and based on the research, teaching and practice of Centre for Sustainable Fashion at London College of Fashion, UAL as well as the expertise and leadership of Kering’s Sustainability team, we are delighted to present the world’s first luxury fashion online course developed between higher education and industry. This is significant because it signals a real desire and commitment from the industry to the ‘open sourcing’ of knowledge. Only through collaboration and the sharing of experience can we face the enormity of the challenges that lie ahead together. Often we can feel overwhelmed or unsure what sustainability means for our industry – we feel disempowered because there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution – but this course aims to empower aspiring and existing fashion professionals alike and help them develop their own manifesto for change.
You can sign up to the course from today, and it begins on 9th April 2018. It will run multiple times a year so if you can’t take part in the first installment, it will be possible for you to do the course later on in the year as well – we will keep you posted and as when the new dates are announced.