Baoluo Ye

My name is Baoluo Ye, an MA Fashion Entrepreneurship and Innovation student and Founder of Primal Matter. Primal Matter is a tech-wear brand that equips urbanites with its user-centred design. Inspired by Essentialism, it concentrates on the most primal yet essential matters of garments, including versatility, functionality, longevity, and timelessness. Primal Matter aims to challenge consumerism in the fashion industry by promoting the concept of "buying less to obtain more and better." Additionally, it seeks to address the market gap by offering user-centred designs specifically tailored to urbanites.

As an individual with a strong sense of enterprise and ambition, I am enthusiastic about contributing to the positive change in the fashion industry through my entrepreneurial project. The Enterprise Challenge undoubtedly presents an amazing opportunity for me to test my capabilities, challenge myself, and further shape my idea.

Grace Thomas

I'm an MA Footwear student and an accessory and footwear designer. I survived a brain aneurysm in my late teens which prompted my awareness of the disability world. During my rehabilitation, I was able to meet and witness fellow patients struggle with finding and wearing shoes that work with their disability. The truth is anyone can become disabled. My brand 'Forgotten No More' consists of inclusive and expressive women’s footwear. My shoes bridge the divide between disabled and non-disabled. The prints are inspired by street textures where disabled individuals have difficulty walking. Most importantly, the shoes have hidden accessible features (Velcro) inside. My business is needed because currently trainers and bespoke footwear are the only options for this consumer. Bespoke footwear costs start off at £2000+ for a simple design.

Furthermore, I am excited to be a part of the Enterprise Challenge 2023 because it allows me the opportunity to pursue my idea and take it to the market.

Hanan Tantush

Graduating Summer 2023 from London College of Fashion, BA (Hons) Fashion Design Technology: Womenswear,  I specialise in adaptive clothing, innovating and ideating new solutions to common clothing problems. I utilise an analytical approach to 3D realisation, using sports and performance wear techniques and extensive user testing. Working with charity organisations and the disabled community, I have created a range of clothing for wheelchair users with built-in functionalities, promoting empowerment through ease of dressing, enabling independence and individuality for a marginalised community.

Intotum clothing- eponymously drawing on the idea of ‘everyone’ seeks to create a community, empowering disabled people, in functional, comfortable garments, that are also stylish. It can be difficult to find clothing whenever you don’t fit the ‘standard’ in fashion, however, for people with a disability, 20% of the UK population, this is a much larger problem. For the disabled community, clothing must accommodate their specific needs, be comfortable and easy to wear; whilst also easy to put on for the thousands of carers that dress others every day. However, options that encompass all this are extremely limited, often made solely for practicality without considering the aesthetic, which is why I created Intotum.

Accessibly priced and sustainably made using deadstock and eco-conscious materials, Intotum will benefit the community without hurting the planet. Aiming to go beyond ‘just another fashion brand’, Intotum strives to connect with the disabled community throughout the design process, with lived-experience at the centre of all decisions to ensure that the garments fit the user. I am excited to be a part of the Enterprise Challenge 2023 to take Intotum to the next level with the support of LCF and hopefully secure the funding to create real positive impact for the disabled community.

Martina Kocianova and Julia Sadowska

Martina Kocianova is a contemporary jewellery brand known for its innovative materials and storytelling. Martina, a recent graduate BA (Hons) Jewellery Design at Central Saint Martins, specialises in creating fantastical and playful pieces inspired by magic and mushrooms. Based in her London studio, Martina personally designs and crafts each jewellery piece, while Julia Sadowska, a BSc Fashion Management student at London College of Fashion, handles the brand's management, marketing, and administration.

Martina's goal is to capture the magical essence of mushrooms and mycelium in her jewellery designs. She incorporates organic materials like lichens and mushroom mycelium, as well as recycled silver and precious stones, creating contemporary and unique pieces. The visual language of mushrooms showcased in Martina's jewellery, combined with her commitment to exceptional craftsmanship, has gained support from the Swarovski Foundation. This support has enabled her to delve deeper into stone carving, and hand engraving, and research the potential of mushroom mycelium in a jewellery environment. Following her graduation, she received support from the esteemed Goldsmiths' Centre, which facilitated her further studies in Japanese traditional jewellery techniques at the renowned Aokin school in Japan.

It was during this transformative phase that Martina recognised her need for self-expression through her own jewellery brand and asked Julia to join her and embark on their journey. They offer a truly unique jewellery that captivates the imagination and pushes the boundaries of artistic expression while creating purposeful products, made to last, with mushroom mycelium that has innovative and biodegradable properties when placed into jewellery and packaging. Martina and Julia are thrilled to pitch their growing business through the Enterprise challenge and are excited for an opportunity to gain support and feedback from renowned judges. They believe the opportunity can help them grow faster and connect with their market more effectively.

Maria Tambawala

I’m Maria. I like to define myself as a multimedia designer, creative director and trend strategist. I’m currently working as part of the Chalhoub group’s innovation lab, working on projects that bridge the gap between digital and physical interactions, which puts me in unique position to bring this idea to life. Looms is a new virtual repository of memory, a piece of personal history, a modern heirloom that grows and changes with its user.

Our memories are essential to who we are as individuals, cultures, and societies, yet we rarely reflect on them in today's data-saturated world, despite creating and storing them constantly.  We're bombarded with data, forced to consume inactively. Our reliance on digital devices has led to a state of digital amnesia, causing us to forget what we see almost instantly. This absence of awareness has led to an obsession with emotion, with People are prioritizing personal transformation and meaningful experiences over throwaway interactions.

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