Member Article

Hackney Council partners with The Trampery to launch The Fashion Lab

Hackney Council is joining forces with top names in fashion to help up-and-coming fashion entrepreneurs access state of the art equipment.

The Fashion Lab will be based at the London Fields shared work-space of social enterprise The Trampery.

It will provide graduates and young fashion designers with the opportunity to use the latest professional equipment to develop the skills and collections necessary to forge successful careers in the industry.

The workspace will be booked online in two hour slots at an affordable price which will be reinvested back into the Lab for additional equipment, training for designers and other business support.

The space will boast equipment such as industrial quality sewing and overlock machines, a fusing press, ironing stations, pattern cutting tables and other machinery that designers may have struggled to gain access to in the past.

The Fashion Lab will also include skilled technicians who will be on-hand to support designers by offering technical support and training.

The Trampery collaborated with the Designer-Manufacturer Innovation Support Centre (DISC) and the Centre for Fashion Enterprise (CFE) to create the Fashion Lab which Hackney Council is match-funding.

Charlie May, a young fashion designer who has her studio at the Trampery said: “The fashion lab is a wonderful idea, as a young designer it’s impossible to get your hands on the kind of equipment that you had access to in university, and that you need in order to create to the best of your ability.

“Now, for the first time, designers like myself will have access to machinery at an affordable price, which is incredibly exciting.”

Charles Armstrong, Founder of The Trampery, said: “The amazing calibre of designers based at The Trampery London Fields is a sign of Hackney’s increasing importance as a focal point for the UK fashion industry. “The lack of affordable, flexible access to specialised equipment was a clear barrier for emerging designers. Working with DISC and Hackney Council we’re delighted to address that need with the new Fashion Lab.

“Our goal now is to raise further support to augment the facilities on offer and provide additional training and mentoring opportunities for upcoming designers.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .