ALL WALKS BEYOND THE CATWALK
Founded by Caryn Franklin, Debra Bourne and Erin O’Connor.
These are the activities we have undertaken as fashion activists and campaigners for positive body image and diversity.
MAY 2009
Caryn Frankin, Fashion Commentator and Patron of Beat,
Debra Bourne, Creative Consultant and former Director of Lynne Franks PR
Erin O’Connor, International model and founder of Model Sanctuary,
meet with
Susan Ringwood, Chief Executive of Beat,
To discuss whether it was possible to showcase fashion on a range of body types?
Caryn, Debra and Erin craft and produce All Walks Beyond the Catwalk.
SEPTEMBER 2009
ALL WALKS launches.
All Walks Beyond the Catwalk, the first ready-to-wear fashion project celebrating diversity, takes place at London Fashion Week with a party held at Somerset House and a key note speech by Sarah Brown.
Eight emerging designers are selected to participate, including David Koma, William Tempest, Hannah Marshall and most notably remembered, Mark Fast, creating an outfit from their new collections, for a far wider range professional models in size, age and ethnicity. Ages 17-65. Sizes 8 - 16. The project was purposeful inclusive, involving standard sized model shapes too and appeared as 8 pages of editorial in leading fashion publication i-D Magazine.
All Walks introduces Mark Fast to curvy model Hayley Morley.
Impressed by how Hayley looked in Mark’s dress, he decided to include her along with two extra models -also with curves (we don’t use the term plus size) in his Spring/Summer ’10 catwalk show. The news story around this show ignited a media storm. All Walks media coverage was estimated at 33 million opportunities to view. (by Lexis PR).
www.allwalks.org All Walks website is launched.
Susan Ringwood and Beat depart from project but remain in support.
Caryn, Debra and Erin continue.
OCTOBER 2009.
All Walks wins the Love Your Body award, by Cosmopolitan magazine
As part of their Fearless Women of the Year ceremony. All Walks attends Award Winners Ceremony at 10 Downing Street.
FEBRUARY 2010.
London Fashion Week.
All Walks mounts Every Body Counts project during London Fashion Week, at Vauxhall Fashion Scout. A five-day live portrait event and growing exhibition gathering opinions on Why London can lead the way for diversity in fashion?
MARCH 2010. International Women’s Day
Mounted by Lynne Featherstone, MP and Jo Swinson MP, All Walks participates in launch of Lib Dem’s Body Confidence Campaign, at Portculis House, along with Susie Orbach, Dr Helga Dittmar.
All Walks works with Sarah Brown
wife of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, to produce special international women’s day fashion special for D Mirror supplement.
JUNE 2010.
All Walks educational forum is launched at Graduate Fashion Week.
Supported by Wendy Dagworthy, Professor at RCA, 61 British Colleges are invited to attend a half day forum to discuss the important role fashion educationalists could play in engaging the next generation of creative British leaders? All Walks proposes a Centre of Diversity
Three Colleges introduce modules around diversity into their courses from September 2010.
JUNE 2010
Lynne Featherstone is appointed as parliamentary under secretary for Equalities in new coalition government and invites All Walks to help form a steering committee for Governments Body Confidence Campaign.
SEPTEMBER 2010
Fashion Nite Out. NYC.
Working with Donna Karan and Sonja Nuttal’s new venture called Urban Zen.
All Walks takes first small step in America with party to celebrate the message at their Greenwich Street Store.
London Fashion Week.
All Walks enlists Fashion Heavyweights for follow up initiative called SNAPPED.
Alice Temperley, Antonio Berardi, Betty Jackson, Giles Deacon, Hussein Chalayan, Mathew Williamson, Osman Yousefzada, Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood show appetizer from Spring/Summer 2011 on diverse range of models.
Live Group Shot with Rankin at Somerset House.
All Walks attends first Body Confidence, steering group meeting at Portcullis House.
Steering Group includes: CEO Mumsnet, Girl Guides UK, Susie Orbach, CEO YMCA, Founders- All Walks Beyond the Catwalk.
2011
FEBRUARY 2011
NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY EVENT.
SNAPPED. Late shift Public Event in partnership with All Walks Beyond the Catwalk. Has Fashion become the lens by which we evaluate our identity?
Attendance: An unprecedented 4,000 people.
Overview:
Late shift Extra together with All Walks Beyond the Catwalk presents Snapped – a night of special events celebrating fashion, diversity and beauty. New unseen images by Rankin, top expert panel discussion on beauty and fashion industry’s’ role to i-D pop up photo studio with Alistair Guy and life drawing classes looking at expression versus style and illustration. Not to mention the Work It girls setting the place alive to their DJ set and Josephine’s Chimes brilliant sculptures. This was a night to see and be seen.
“The National Portrait Gallery’s Collection includes portraits that depict women from the late Middle Ages to the present day. The Gallery is delighted to be part of ‘All Walks Beyond the Catwalk’, to encourage debate around contemporary portraiture in fashion photography, and also as part of our remit to promote and debate portraiture in all media.” National Portrait Gallery
JUNE 2011
All Walks 2nd Futures Forum @ Graduate Fashion Week 2011.
One year on. More colleges sign up for All Walks presentations
All Walks launches the All Walks Centre of Diversity with Edinburgh College of Art. Britain’s first Centre of Diversity to look at emotionally considerate design and practice and the importance of individuality.
“People constantly talk about the economics of emerging markets – Brazil, India and China. Surely it’s time to join the dots between commercial thinking and emotional understanding. We live in a diverse world. The fashion industry can send out a more conscious message, develop a more emotionally considerate practice in pursuit of a more lucrative business proposition. It all begins in education.”
All Walks, Co Founders Caryn Franklin, Debra Bourne and Erin O’Connor.
SEPTEMBER 2011
All Walks embarks on a nationwide educational campaign, featuring a 2 hour seminar to undergraduates, many followed up by collaborative project.
October 14th - Ravensbourne Collage of Art Live project to follow
October 19th - University of Leeds. Live project to follow
October 28th - The Arts University College Bournemouth –. Live project to follow
October 28th - Southampton Solent . Live project to follow
November 4th- London College of Fashion – . Live project to follow
November 9th -Plymouth Art College
January 16th - Edinburgh College of Art. Live project to follow
January 25th - University of the West of England Bristol. Live project to follow
February 15th - Nottingham Trent University School of Art & Design
February 7th - Cleveland College of Art and Design
March 20th - Glasgow School of Art….. More to be confirmed
FEBRUARY 2012
Debra Bourne, initiates a collaboration with Miss Representation, project in USA in 2011, and negotiates for All Walks to host screening at House of Commons with The All Party Parliamentary Group and Central YMCA, to bring together key media professionals with the aim of kick starting a debate around the lack of role models in general media – leading more young women to look to fashion’s narrow ideals for a narrative on femininity.
APRIL 2012
Launch of Body Confidence Awards Held At Parliament
All Walks collaborated with MP Jo Swinson, and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Body Image to craft and deliver the first ever Body Confidence Awards at Parliament.
The Body Confidence Awards highlighted the efforts of industry and community thought leaders, who are re-writing the rule book on how to communicate healthy body and beauty ideals.
The All Walks Fashion Visionary Award is presented to designer Mark Fast for his use of realistic body shapes on the catwalk at London Fashion Week.
Click on image to read the full report.
JUNE 2012
ALL WALKS EDUCATION FUTURES FORUM at Graduate Fashion Week
Thirty tutors and course leaders from fashion courses around Britain met to discuss the All Walks Diversity in Fashion agenda for Education.
Debra Bourne and Caryn Franklin devised and announced a nationwide student initiative:DiversityNow! to help put diversity onto the fashion education curriculum. With educational backing the initiative launched in the forthcoming academic year, October 2012.
DiversityNow! aims to challenge existing fashion industry dependence on limited body and beauty ideals, and celebrate diverse representations of race, age, size and physical appearance.
Additional symposium and case histories from collaborative universities were given from tutors and course leaders already working with the All Walks educational material.
SEPTEMBER 2012
All Walks Holds Lectures Up and Down The UK
Lectures up and down the UK. All Walks recruits more educationalists and students to the call of Diversity. The lectures aimed to make students aware of their empowerment to make positive contributions towards self-esteem and body image. Curriculums begin changing. Students make their feeling known.
OCTOBER 2012
INAUGURAL LAUNCH: DiversityNow! 2013
- Fashion Film
- Photography
- Zines
- Journalism
- Womenswear and
- Menswear design
A nationwide competition in association with i-D Magazine in student design.
Sponsored by Succeed Foundation, All Walks invites the next generation of creative ‘influencers’ to envision and design for a fashion future, beyond stereotype.
A future that challenges boundaries and truly celebrates individuality. Students
registration through online platform, Arts Thread
NOVEMBER 2012
All Walks Co-Founders; Debra Bourne and Caryn Franklin Win Red Magazine’s Pioneering Women’s Award
All Walks co-founders win Red Magazine’s ‘Pioneering Women Award,‘ at the Red Hot Women annual awards. The Red Hot Women Awards celebrate women in the workplace cross a range of categories. The Pioneer category was defined as A trailblazer who has made an astonishing breakthrough in her field.
MARCH 2013
Co-Founder Caryn Franklin Collects MBE
Co founder Caryn Franklin collected an MBE for her dedication to the service of positive Body Image and Diversity, through projects for independent retailers and co-chair post at Fashion Targets Breast Cancer and of course, All Walks Beyond the Catwalk.
26 Colleges Request All Walks Lecture on Diversity
26 Colleges all over Britain, request All Walks Lecture on Diversity in preparation for competition. London College of Fashion, University for the creative arts, and Grays school of art are only some of the colleges that requested for a lecture
APRIL 2013
All Walks Centre of Diversity with Edinburgh College of Art is renamed Diversity Network.
All Walks participates in Diversity Symposium at Edinburgh University, in their commitment to pioneer new thinking and methodologies in encouraging diversity in fashion education.
MAY 2013
Body Confidence Campaign Progress Report Launch at House of Commons
All Walks participate in panel discussion with Jo Swinson, Govt Minister for Women and Equalities.
JUNE 2013
All Walks Announce Winner For Diversity NOW! 2013 At Graduate Fashion Week
The results of a year-long competition with 34 participating colleges and universities across the UK are announced at Graduate Fashion Week which was hosted by Fashion Commentator Grace Woodward. Deemed a huge success by education and students alike. Curriculums are changing. Diversity is being considered
Mix It Up at GRADUATE FASHION WEEK 2013
All Walks mount Pop-up studio with i-D Magazine and photographer Daniel Sims to produce Mix it up Campaign Images and giving the chance to fly the flag for The Diverse, The Dashing and The Deliciously kitted out.
SEPTEMBER 2013
All Walks Launches Diversity NOW! 2014
DiversityNow! National Student initiative is launched for its second year.
All Walks undertake UK wide lecture circuit to promote Diversity, working with i-D Magazine and Arts Thread. In line with a nationwide drive to change curriculums with the help of committed educationalists
All Walks sets out to achieve the following objectives:
- INVESTING IN EDUCATION
- PRODUCING INFORMED VISIONARIES.
- SPEARHEADING A PARADIGM SHIFT IN FASHION.
DECEMBER 2013
All Walks Collects H Club 100 Award
All Walks are named amongst The Hospital Club’s H.Club100, in association with the Guardian Culture Professionals Network.
The H Club 100 is a list recognising innovation and achievement in the British creative and media industries in the past 12 months. The list is complied through national search and public vote.
All Walks Beyond the Catwalk Are Thought Leaders in a field of their own.
JUNE 2014
All Walks Announces Winners For Diversity NOW! 2014 at GFW.
All Walks announces the winners for DiversityNow! 2014 in association with i-D Magazine. From a wide variety of sassy, sorted and sumptuous ideas, images and imaginative entries to our national student competition
We have whittled our choices from across 30 colleges and universities nationwide, down to a handful. This is DiversityNow! The awards were hosted by esteemed fashion blogger Susie Bubble at Graduate Fashion Week.
SEPTEMBER 2014
All Walks Launches Diversity NOW! 2015
All Walks drives curriculum change. Diversity NOW! 2015 now in its third year, continues to enlist the support from committed educationalist to engage the future generation of industry professionals in new thinking about the role of diversity in fashion.
Fashion Creatives have the Power to…challenge existing fashion industry dependence on limited body and beauty ideals, and celebrate diverse representations of race, age, size and physical appearance.
The results can be seen in this specially designed DiversityNOW! Newspaper featuring industry supporters alongside student work and distributed at GFW.
OCTOBER 2014
All Walks Becomes Registered Charity
All Walks become a registered charity, and have elected four trustees’ all who are all industry professionals from different fields including Casting, On line publishing and Fashion Brand expertise.
- Safia Minney – CEO of PeopleTree
- Nikki Trott – Business Development Director at Wednesday Agency
- Jody Furlong – Founder of The Eye Casting Agency
- Tricia Jones – Founder of I-d Magazine
MARCH 2015
Talk At The Scottish Notational Portrait Gallery
Debra, Mal Burkinshaw and Alyson Walsh all participate in a talk held at the Scottish Notational Portrait Gallery to discuss the issues shown at the Beauty By Design Exhibition.
NOVEMBER 2014 – MAY 2015
BEAUTY BY DESIGN: Fashioning the Renaissance – The Scottish National Portrait Gallery
Debra Bourne and Caryn Franklin attend a two day symposium in 2013, along with a small group of Educators and Academics to dialogue and lay the foundation for this research project and exhibition at the Gallery examines beauty ideals from the Renaissance times, where naked body first appears to paintings in relationship to modern ideals.
JUNE 2nd 2015
All Walks Announce Winner For Diversity NOW! 2015
All Walks announces the winners for DiversityNow! 2015 in association with i-D Magazine.
This year we include a new PUBLIC VOTE WINNER with I-D online giving the public opportunity to choice their favourite choice.
Over 3,000 people participate.
JUNE 2015
Caryn Franklin resigns from All Walks to pursue an MSc and steps away from the project.
Tricia Jones and Safia Minney also resign as trustees.
SEPTEMBER 2015
All Walks Launch Diversity NOW! 2016
DiversityNow! 2016 is the launched working with i-D Magazine and hosted by Arts Thread online.
25 universities enrol in this fourth year of the successful project.
JANUARY 2016
Changing Shapes fashion film
Debra Bourne works with National Museum of Scotland to create a three minute permanent film installation for the new Fashion Galleries opening in June 2016 to celebrate more diversity in fashion and support All Walks message of inclusion and representation.
Credit: Thanks to Caryn for her production of this 2015 version of the All Walks lecture film.