LCF students bring Home Turf to life through community activation
- Written byS Cheevers
- Published date 05 June 2026
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BA (Hons) Critical Practice in Fashion Media students recently coordinated an activation as part of Home Turf, a new exhibition at London College of Fashion, UAL, that brings together fashion, football and honest conversation to rethink how young men are seen, and how they see themselves.
The exhibition is produced by the Portal Centre for Social Impact in collaboration with LCF Kit Room and Studios, Print Studio and Darkrooms, with Ashton Jones-Frame as the Cultural Producer through the Creative Newham Cultural Producers programme. The Centre provides a space where students, designers and communities can use fashion and creativity to inspire and facilitate positive social change.
On until 14 June, the showcase uses fashion photography, personal football memorabilia, and analogue images to explore themes of class, race, and vulnerability, and to challenge ideas of what masculinity looks for young men local to East Bank.
As part of their course unit ‘Fashion Activation,’ 28 second year students worked in groups to plan an activation that contributes to climate, racial or social justice. Aligning with Home Turf, the students aimed to open up conversations around working-class masculinity, utilising LCF’s East Bank Building as a place of community and changemaking. Each group took responsibility for a different element of the activation: creative, promotion, data collection, and operations.
The students collaborated to produce Home Turf Presents on 15 May, a live conversation with project curator Ashton Jones-Frame and Home Turf participants, with special guests and performances from local London creatives.
The project asked students to consider collaboration, representation and social impact through live cultural programming. Reflecting on the experience, students spoke about working collectively, engaging with conversations around masculinity and community, and producing an event rooted in positive social change.
“I was part of the creative team who brought the Home Turf activation to life through creating activities, branding and print for the event. I really enjoyed this as I was able to align our work with the already established Home Turf aesthetic. This was my first group project at LCF, so sometimes it was challenging to collaborate and compromise on ideas, but in the end, we created a successful event that celebrated Ashton’s work and brought the community together through education, music and art.” - Lily Ross, BA (Hons) Critical Practice in Fashion Media
“During the Home Turf event, I worked on the Evaluation and Data Collection team for the first time. While this role was less visible than other creative tasks, I realised how important its outcomes were to understanding audience experiences and improving the event overall. The work required strong communication and engagement with guests. For example, while guiding late-arriving guests to the lecture theatre, I would also introduce our performances and encourage them to participate and share feedback when the panel finished. This experience strengthened my confidence in communication and showed me the value of audience connection within fashion community projects.” - Xinping Bai, BA (Hons) Critical Practice in Fashion Media
Home Turf 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.
- Read more LCF Stories
- Visit Home Turf, open to all until 14 June at LCF’s East Bank campus, Mezzanine level.
- Find out more about the Portal Centre for Social Impact