Irregular; In the closet
By Jo Phillips
A collaboration between the Centre For Fashion Curation, the Social Responsibility group at LCF (London College of Fashion) have teamed on a project which explores different aspects of fashion, through a series of seven themed exhibitions, organised by curators working in London, and displayed in a cabinet; the traditional form of museum display. They have commissioned a specially designed cabinet to host a series of small exhibitions and installations, being taken to audiences who cannot usually access museum displays.
All people wear clothes. Garments that protect us, our bodies and souls. Clothes reflect our personality, document our passage through life and spark memories. In recent years, fashion exhibitions have become incredibly popular. It is the job of the curator to select museum objects and tell stories about them. Cabinets are used to protect and display them. This cabinet is a ‘venue’ where up to eight exhibitions, curated by LCF, UAL and external curators, will be displayed one after the other. Each participating curator will lead a talk or workshop based on their cabinet exhibition when the cabinet is ‘in residence’.
The cabinet is touring local communities, predominantly in the boroughs of East London, using the topic of fashion to engage with new audiences in the community, who may have experienced a lack of opportunity in their lives, or who may be marginalised by society in some way. Cabinet Stories promotes access to the arts as a social good in itself, as well as participation in the arts to promote education, skills development, social development and learning. Topics covered by the cabinet displays include fashion & sport, fans and the flat cloth cap. The cabinet will be photographed at each location, documenting its journey and the engagement with each individual audience. Collaborators and contributors include designers Phoebe English, Faustine Steinmetz and Charlotte Olympia.
Whilst on the charity tip King’s Road concept store, ConSept announces its exclusive, invitation-only charity shopping event taking place on the 13th of October, 2016 from 5:30pm – 8:30pm. Teaming up with Action for Children, a charity which the owners are closely linked to, the shopping event will welcome the store’s high-profile clientele with a glass of bubbly whilst they peruse the luxury offering of Hermès, Versace and Baccarat. On the day, ConSept will provide up to 15% VIP discount to shoppers and 15% of all purchases made will be paid back to Action for Children. The event will also mark the launch of ConSept’s collaborations with London Fashion Week designer, Julien Macdonald and couturier, Nicholas Oakwell.
Cabinet Stories will now be open to the public for the first time at Emmaus Greenwich, Poplar shop.
At Emmaus all the exhibitions will be on display at the same time, accompanied by a free workshop programme, some of which will be open to the public on a first come first served basis
Cabinet Stories will be on display to the public from 7 October – 2 November 2016, with workshops taking place on Saturdays.
Emmaus Greenwich, Poplar Shop
175-179 East India Dock Road
London
E14 0EA
.
Another irregular charity collaboration is the one between TUMI and Petra Nemcova. The leading global lifestyle brand TUMI announced its new brand ambassador Petra Nemcova for autumn 2016. The supermodel and philanthropist will be teaming up with the brand on two important initiatives. One of them is a charity event to raise awareness and funds for the Happy Hearts Fund, which is an organization founded by Nemcova in 2006. Her Fund’s aim is to rebuild safe schools and to empower people who are affected by natural disasters. Furthermore, the Happy Hearts Fund tries to give every child the chance to go to school. The second project with Nemcova will be TUMI’s autumn 2016 ad campaign where she will be the face of the debut premium collection for women.
TUMI supports charities because they firmly believe that they have a duty to help children of today across the world because they will be the leaders of tomorrow. Regarding the collaboration with Nemcova, TUMI said that “Petra is a perfect example of a Global Citizen. She is always on the move, in two or three countries every week while balancing a high-profile modelling career and serving as the leader of a global organization that has built and maintains 130 schools across ten countries. She is a true inspiration and a wonderful individual”.
Additionally, there is a charity called Ambitious About Autism and it supports children and young people with autism. Recently, they finished major renovations at their North London campus in Tottenham and opened the first college exclusively for young adults with autism. The college helps people between the ages of 19 and 25 to start work and live independently, as only one in four people with complex autism manage to get a place in further education, according to the charity. To support this project, ad agency CHI and AAA created large scale murals in the classrooms to make sure that the creative is engaging as possible for the students. The campus is now open and if you want to know more about the project, check out their website here.
On the 3rd of November, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home’s world-famous Collars & Coats Gala Ball will take place. Battersea Dogs & Cats Home is one of the oldest and most famous animal rescue centres in the UK and it rescues cats and dogs in need of help and nurtures them until an owner can be found. The Collars & Coats Gala Ball is an annual fundraising ball which features high profile guests and celebrity supporters. The gala ball is now in its eight year and celebrates the incredible work of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. The guests are welcomed by dozens of the charity’s rescue dogs and apart from that, well-known entertainers, actors, fashion icons, and musicians will attend the the event and the music group Sister Sledge will perform some of their hits.
The Collars & Coats Gala Ball will take place on Thursday 3rd November 2016 at Battersea Evolution, Chelsea Gate Entrance, Battersea Park, London, SW11, 4NJ
