Diversity NOW!
IN ASSOCIATION WITH i-D MAGAZINE
SPONSORED BY SUCCEED FOUNDATION. Supported by Arts Thread, Graduate Fashion Week and Own Label.
June 2012: Announcing a National Student Design Competition:
Womenswear, Menswear, Fashion Film, Fashion Photography, Zines, Fashion Journalism
Now is the time for creatives to boldly vision a fashion future which steps beyond stereotypes, redefines boundaries and celebrates a wider range of beauty and body ideals in age, size and race than are currently reflected in our media.
A fashion future that truly celebrates individuality, in all its myriad forms, not the homogenised consistently branded version of it.
“We believe diversity can enhance creativity not impede it. Like the multitude of silhouettes our industry creates,
beauty is also individual. It’s not restricted by age, shape, skin tone or size.”
Debra Bourne, Caryn Franklin and Erin O’Connor
Co Founders All Walks Beyond the Catwalk.
All Walks Beyond the Catwalk has been lecturing up and down the country and many colleges are now creating LIVE projects off the back of the lectures.Tutors have been delighted with the response from students not just in terms of project but also the emotional connection students have made with the concept of emotionally considerate design and practice. INCLUSIVITY and DIVERSITY is good for self esteem and at All Walks we believe it is a lucrative business proposition.
The competition Diversity NOW! is the result of a request from colleges and their tutors and will be bedded into the curriculum from September.
Timeline:
Graduate Fashion Week host All Walks announcement: June 2012
Arts Thread will post the college brief for students and tutors and i-D Magazine will announce the competition online: September 2012
Arts Thread will host competition and judging process: Sept - April 2012/13
i-D Magazine will feature finalists online: April 2013
i-D winners announcement online: TBC 2013
Own Label will work with Menswear and Womenswear winners to produce the designs for sale with a percentage donation for the All Walks Centre of Diversity: TBC 2013
ARE YOU UP FOR IT? THE CALL IS - Diversity NOW!
“All Walks is relevant today because it brings back the importance of personal identity.”
Terry Jones, i-D Magazine
“It’s very important that we question the parameters that define beauty. I’m thrilled to
support the All Walks initiative.”
Nick Knight, photographer . SHOWstudio.com
“All Walks is an important initiative. There should be an awareness of
who is wearing your fashion… Beyond the Catwalk.”
Mark Fast
SUPPORTERS OF DIVERSITY NOW!
i-D magazine: i-D Magazine has recently celebrated 30 years at the forefront of cutting edge fashion and ideas and has always promoted diversity and individuality. A magazine for thought leaders and creative pioneers, i-D Online will feature winning work of students who offer progressive ideas on diverse body and beauty ideals.
Succeed Foundation: With a fresh approach to eating disorders, wellbeing and body image awareness, The Succeed Foundation is a young charity determined that many in need of help now will see benefits in the future. When starting out you have to sow seeds to Succeed.
Arts Thread: Arts Thread is the world’s leading creative graduate network, bridging the gap between education & the design industry. In little over 2 years Arts Thread has built relationships with over 80 International Art Colleges in 16 countries and helped over 400 design graduates gain employment with some of the leading brands worldwide.
Graduate Fashion Week: Celebrating over 21 years of promoting student talent to industry and press, GFW supports All Walks in putting emotionally considerate design and messaging on the agenda.
OWN LABEL was set up following a collaboration between students from the University of the Arts and London Business School to promote creative design at affordable prices by working directly with emerging fashion designers.
Centre of Diversity: Run by Director Mal Burkinshaw of Edinburgh College of Art and located at the Scottish Academy of Fashion at Edinburgh College of Art. The C.O.D aims to create a long term ‘Network Centre of Excellence,’ for research relating to emotionally considerate design for a range of body shapes. The centre will be a hub fordynamic and challenging creative research that will span the breadth of modern fashion pedagogy.