Contents The borough of Waltham forest......................... 3 about the project........................................................ 5 a manifesto for activating change................... 6 people of Waltham forest...................................... 9 roundtable discussion at frp .............................. 12 Workshop at belmont park school................... 18 analysis and takeaways............................................ 22 proposals........................................................................... 26 Conclusion......................................................................... 31 Credits.................................................................................. 32
the borough of waltham forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest, in the Northeast of London is the first Borough of Culture for 2019. The birthplace of designer William Morris, this area is considered the cradle of the Arts & Crafts Movement and is home to many artists, makers and designers. Local facts and figures1 Waltham Forest is home to an estimated 271,200 residents and 104,000 households. The average age of residents is 34 years compared to the UK average of 40 years. The borough is one of the most diverse areas in the country. 48% of residents are from a minority ethnic background. •More than 135,000 working age residents (73.1%) are in employment whilst the unemployment rate is down to 6.4%. •A large majority (93%) of businesses in the borough are micro businesses with less than 10 employees. We focused our project on these micro businesses working in the fashion sector. Photo by Ran Jing February 2019
1. London Borough of Waltham Forest , 2019
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Photo by Nayanika Bharadwaj April 2019
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about the project In collaboration with the Centre for Sustainable Fashion and Waltham Forest Council our project entails engagement of local designers, fashion businesses, makers, artists and community to help build a closed loop system for pre-consumer textile waste in Waltham Forest. It also aims at creating pathways for collaboration, skill building, skill sharing and efficient use of local resources by using design and fashion activism as a lever for creating awareness and action while benefiting the four pillars of environmental, cultural social and economic sustainability in Waltham Forest in the long term
how do we close the loop with fabric waste, enabling sharing and donating of resources? how do we bridge the skills gap and foster local making in the borough?
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a manifesto for activating change
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values
Change
Resourcefulness Creativity Collaboration Goodwill
To help fashion and design businesses to start to implement and practice global sustainability agendas and goals, focusing on their waste generation, while rethinking their own present, conventional methods of working.
vision
Commitment
To help transform the manufacturing and making landscape of Waltham Forest Borough, through self reliance, minimal waste policies and a sustainable framework.
To create a model for fostering long term links between various entities including small independent brands, large manufacturers and the community at large, enabling partners to continue working on shared visions for a sustainable future.
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Design activism
Closed loop for manufacturing waste
Skill building and sharing
Collaboration culture for social, economic and environmental sustainability
manufacturing Retaining local creative talents and skills
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local skill sets & craftsmanship
people of waltham forest An eclectic mix of designers, makers and facilitators
steph steele and han ates Han (Founder) and Steph work at Blackhorse Lane ateliers, a denim atelier focused on craft methods, sustainability, ethical manufacturing and high quality. They make ready-to wear selvedge and organic raw denim jeans and offer lifetime repair. They are particularly interested in working with the local making community and finding ways to become zero-waste.
Kristen kong A graduate from Chelsea College of art and the RCA in textiles, Kristen’s work focuses on upcycling and repurposing waste from plastics manufacturing to paper waste and textiles. She recently moved to Walthamstow, and also conducts workshops with the public for upcycling paper into unique jewellery.
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Steve Jones
Ausra Urbanaviciute Ausra is the founder of brand Croc and Maraboo, a London based online kids clothing shop. She specializes in handmade clothing for everyday wear using fine quality fabrics. Her focus now is to use discards of high quality waste fabrics and use it effectively for her children's wear label.
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Steve founded Cactus Leather, a leather accessories brand and is the last press knife/template maker for leather cutting left in London. He works with several local businesses in Walthamstow and is eager to pass on his skills in leather goods manufacturing, acquired through his long career, to young people.
Xandra Drepaul Xandra is a pattern cutter and has an expertise in 3D realisation, draping & pattern cutting at LCF as well as freelancing each season for high end clients like Cos, Mulberry, Peter Pilotto and Christopher Kane.
benny zahid Benny is the founder of Style on Them, a contemporary designer streetwear label, born in 2015, in East London. They make bespoke and limited edition urban clothing lines. Benny also works with juvenile delinquents in youth engagement and training programs to create social value, and has previously volunteered with the Borough on the same.
pernille and elizabeth Pernille Moeller is the General Manager and Elizabeth Salazar is Fabric Lead at Forest Recycling Project, a social enterprise that works to reclaim and recycle paint, wood and fabrics. They also conduct workshops and work with volunteers in communityfocused green projects, and aim to create FRP as a fabric hub for donating and reusing textile waste.
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roundtable discussion at frp On the 9th of May, the team organised a meeting at the Forest Recycling Project (FRP) , inviting makers for a presentation and open conversation on how they can collaborate and share resource. Lasting around 1.5 hours, we opened the presentation introducing our project and elaborating on the current statistics on pre-consumer waste created by the fashion industry, the environmental impacts and our aims for the project.
Photos by Ran Jing
While Dr. Francesco Mazzarella further explained the aims of the long-term project, ‘Making for Change: Waltham Forest’, that includes creating a Fashion district, as a hub for designers and makers, Pernille and Elizabeth, also spoke of their roles in establishing FRP as a hub for fabric donation and sharing that would aid designers to recycle and upcycle fabric waste easily and further called for more participation and help in doing so.
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Photos by Ran Jing
After the presentation, each of the invitees introduced themselves briefly and filled out a questionnaire that collected data about the waste they generate and their current systems of dealing with it. After this, an activity of around 15 minutes followed, where the invitees filled out a sheet that asked them to think deeply and dive into the issues further. They were encouraged to write, draw and doodle their responses to four simple questions: • What does the word sustainable mean to you? • What sort of role do you see for yourself in the fashion ecosystem? How do you think you could make a difference? • What worries you the most about the fashion industry or your business? What sort of concerns do you wish could be addressed? • What sort of future do you see for the fashion industry? What is your ideal vision for your business in Walthamstow? The invitees started discussions among themselves in the process of doing the activity. When asked to present their thoughts to the group, each of the invitees spoke of the importance of sustainability in the fashion industry and the need for radical change while calling for greater support from the Council. After the closing words, invitees exchanged contact details and had further conversations with the others for possible collaborations. The meeting ended with an optimistic vibe among invitees excited for the next steps of the project.
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Questionnaire 1. How important is the concept of sustainable fashion to you? 2. Have you heard of zero-waste fashion? 3. Have you heard of a closed-loop economy? 4. How much waste do you currently produce in a month (By weight/ percentage /quantity) 5. What do you currently do with your waste? (Throw it /Donate it/Reuse it/Other) 6. Would you be interested in a system of donating waste/excess fabric and reusing/upcycling other businesses’ donated fabric? 7. Are you in need of specific skills or skilled labour for your business? If so, what? 8. Would you be interested in sharing other resources like skill sets among other small businesses in the Waltham Forest Borough?
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activity sheets
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16 Photo by Ran Jing
Photo by Ran Jing
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Workshop at belmont park school Photos by Ran Jing
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Belmont Park School caters to 65 students with Social, Emotional, and/or Mental Health issues (SEMH). Many students have experience with trauma, ADHD or attachment issues. A few students have Asperger’s or autism and can be challenging but learn quickly with the required patience . Why did we chose to conduct workshop with Belmont Park School? The school is open to new ideas for collaboration and wants these special students to be aware of the concepts of sustainability and waste management through upcycling. Since finding ways to reuse waste and close the loop is always necessary, this could also potentially prove to be another avenue to divert waste from fashion manufacturing in the borough, further enabling a closed loop economy, while reusing it in educative, creative ways.
We opened the workshop with a brief interactive presentation on fashion where we talked about the journey of clothes further leading to a discussion about fashion waste, what the students did with their clothes at the end of their use and where they went once discarded.
Photo by Mariyam Khatri
On 15th May 2020, the team conducted a two hour workshop with school students at the Belmont Park School, Leyton, Walthamstow. The workshop was an upcycling embroidery workshop with six students of eighth grade, using discarded formal clothing and uniform samples from designer Charlotte Stiffel. We were joined by Dr.Mazzarella and Amanda Jenkins, Associate Dean for Widening Participation & Schools Progression and Designated Safe-guarding Person at LCF.
We then showed them images of designers working with waste in innovative ways. After the presentation the students chose the pieces they wanted to work on and started to embroider them with colourful threads and waste fabrics, with the help of our team. We guided them on basic steps such as learning how to thread a needle along with a few basic stitches which they were quick to learn. Some students also chose to work with fabric paints, personalising the pieces by painting their names on the clothes. Though initially nervous, the students began to have fun with the making, beginning the process of building a relationship with their garments, a beautiful process in itself. Photo by Ran Jing
Through the workshop the students positively engaged with the process as they found a new medium with which to express themselves. The clothes were given to the students after the workshop so that they understand why something handmade and customised could prove to be more precious to them then he cheaper fast fashion they normally wore. With a forthcoming collaborative project with Blackhorse Lane Ateliers working with denim, the students were exposed to a new way of working with fabric thus opening up the opportunity to work even further with local manufacturers and upcycling.
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Photo by Ran Jing
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Photo by R
Analysis & takeaways Have you heard of a closed-loop economy?
Yes – 5 No – 3
Three out of eight fashion businesses were unaware of the closed loop economy
Would you be interested in sharing resources like skill sets among other small businesses in the Waltham Forest Borough?
Yes – 8 No – 0
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Kristen wants to work on waste with small businesses while Steph wants to share the skills of mending and darning
Would you be interested in a system of donating waste/excess fabric and reusing/upcycling other businesses donated fabric?
Yes – 7 No – 1
Steph showed interest in the feasibility of sorting out waste at the Offset Warehouse for donation; however they reuse their waste in workshops making bags, textile art and donating to students
Are you in need of specific skills or skilled labour for your business?
Yes – 3 No – 5
Steph and Benny stressed on the difficulty in finding skilled machinists
codes codes Facilitator Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Closed Loop Economy
category
sustainability
themes
Researcher
category
Leadership Education activism
roles
responsibility awareness accountability
themes
Design Activist Extending lifecycle of products
Craftsman Ethical Practice Heritage craft and skills
Skill Sharer
subcodes
subcodes Innovator
Social Equality
Sustainability The urgency and significance of developing a closed loop economy locally was stressed by multiple stake holders, while creating a culture to expand local craftsmanship and localism was also unanimous. Steph and Han from Blackhorse Lane Ateliers along with Benny from Style On Them and Steve from Cactus leather, discussed the aspect of the quality of products as one of the key factors to extend the lifecycle of product keeping it from going to waste.
Educator
roles The key emergent roles were oriented towards creating awareness about sustainability through research, education, communication, design activism, skill sharing, social and ethical practices and innovation. Promoting local craftsmanship culture and handling waste through Reduce-Reuse-Recycle was a prevalent underpinning for most of the roles stated above. One of the stake holders, in context to his business, put across the point of making a difference by taking ownership of transparency with the overseas suppliers about the waste generation and its management in a sustainable way.
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codes codes
Waste
subcodes
Awareness
Training Centres for Skill Building
Lack of Recycle Centres
themes Lack of Awareness
subcodes
Collaborations
category
concerns
social, economic and environmental sustainability
Revitalization of Local Economy
Local & Govt. Support
category Envisaged futures
High Rent and Taxes
themes
Collaborative support
Local Heritage & Craftsmanship Fast Fashion Hedonism
Closed Loop Economy Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
Disappearance of Skills Shortage of Workforce Disconnect in the Fashion System
Concerns Dr. Mazzarella showed his concern for disconnection within the fashion system whereas Steph from Black horse Lane Atelier too seconded his opinion on lack of connectivity and communication. While on one hand Pernille Moeller showed her concern for dealing with synthetic textiles, primarily polyester, Kristen put across her concern for mixed materials and the difficulties faced in recycling them. Other major concerns included high rents and taxes and the rise of cheap fast fashion, both detrimental to small businesses.
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Shortening Supply Chains Local Production
envisaged futures Pathways for collaborations, localism and reducing the environmental footprint of waste were the strong themes for the future, where Pernille Moeller and Elizabeth from FRP stressed on collaborative and supportive efforts in the community through creating a textile cluster, and Han from Blackhorse Lane Atelier discussed fostering local craft production through the support from both citizens and the government.
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• •
•
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In terms of skill sets, Waltham Forest has a diverse range of designers, makers, artists and creative people with a rich array of skill sets, with most working in isolation. We found great potential for collaboration, resource sharing and skill building to retain creative talent in Waltham Forest. Some of the major and key concerns for the local businesses in context to Waltham Forest were the lack of recycle centers, disappearance of skills and shortage of workforce. Several fashion and design businesses are shifting or planning to shift from Waltham Forest due to either increasing rental costs or decreasing footfalls. Fashion businesses and designers are interested to be a part of a closed loop system in context to pre-consumer manufacturing waste; however most of them are unaware of means and channels of sourcing or donating textile waste. As a hub of creative industries it is worrisome if businesses keep moving out of the locality it might be detrimental to the creative and craftsmanship culture and heritage of Waltham Forest as well as have a negative impact on the micro businesseseconomy.
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proposals Workshops with Kristen Flora paper and textile upcycling with volunteers
larger manufacturers and makers, eg. Blackhorse ateliers
Donate fabric
Forest recycling project
Reuse fabric
Smaller businesses, eg. Croc and maraboo
Upcycling workshops by belmont park School
For creating a closed-loop economy for textiles, the Forest Recycling Project can act as a hub for donation and availing of textile waste from large and small makers alike, community institutions like schools and colleges, and the locals from the community, along with developing a more sophisticated system of sorting different types of textiles. They can also work with talented local artists like Kristen for workshops with FRP volunteers and paid ones with the general public (thus, also benefitting Kristen). This would require considerable support from the Council in terms of communication and logistics.
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Forest Recycling Project Photos by Divisha
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Steve jones
benny zahid Benny Zahid works with disadvantaged youth in education projects while raising their issues. At the same time, Steve Jones looks forward to teaching a variety of skills in leather accessories making, for free, while recruiting more skills for his workshop. There is a promising opportunity for local employment generation and social welfare if a collaboration is created where Steve trains these youth with employable skills. Benny would also be interested in creating an accessories collection with Steve, instead of making in China. Thus, this can help Steve create a one-stop place for complete manufacturing, retaining business in Waltham Forest. Steve in his workshop Photo by Divisha
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Being a one-man army who is struggling to find apprentices, Steve is doing his best to keep his workspace together. However, his studio could be transformed into a training center if he can find interested volunteers as he has the space and all the machinery and tools needed to train apprentices along with his many skills from knife and template making for cutting leather, to stitching leather goods. As a means to generate employment in the creative industries, as well as passing down knowledge of heritage craftsmanship to a younger generation, Waltham Forest Council should invest in developing a vocational training center focused on skill building and sharing. It could be supported by the local craftsmen, makers and technicians by sharing skills and conducting workshops for educating and familiarizing young people with this craft. Teaching old and new skill sets on a professional level fulfils the need for the shortage of local workforce promoting localism.
Steve’s workshop Photos by Nayanika Bharadwaj
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Open Discussions and networking events are a great medium to facilitate potential pathways for collaborative efforts for sustainability either through sharing resources, skill sets or any other specific need. Creating a local design and business forum in the Waltham Forest Council for micro businesses conducting monthly or bimonthly networking events could act as a channel for local connectivity, open debates, problem framing, mutual learning and sharing which can benefit all the stakeholders to confront and create positive outcomes for the micro and macro challenges faced by their respective businesses. This would also foster a sustainable culture for creating better social, environmental and economic impacts for the local creative industries as a holistic system.
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conclusion Our project, over the last 4 months has explored the working, practises and immense potential of the making community in Waltham Forest Borough to create and activate positive change. Drawing upon the principles of localism to help the community to create centres of innovation there is clearly great potential for makers to create a closer-knit group and draw upon each other’s resources and knowledge, working collaboratively instead of in isolation. There is also a need for the Council to take notice of the designer’s suggestions and requirements. Waste is a huge problem faced by the fashion industry and especially important to tackle in terms of today’s environmental emergency across the globe. Makers recognize the need for effective ways to deal with their waste but require more governmental support in terms of logistics. There is also more work needed to be done by the Council, in terms of educating the rest of the making community who did not initially want to associate themselves with the project. Equally important is the support for small businesses in skill development, subsidised rents for workspace and generating local employment opportunities, which further increases the social and cultural indicators of a developing borough. With a democratic, supportive system that creates a conducive atmosphere to small businesses, there is great potential for fashion to create real, positive change in the borough of Waltham Forest.
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credits Words and photography Divisha Nayanika Bharadwaj Mariyam Khatri Ran Jing design and illustration Nayanika Bharadwaj Supervisor
Dr. Francesco Mazzarella Centre for Sustainable Fashion, London College of Fashion University of the Arts, London
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bibliography London Borough of Waltham Forest (2019). Available at: https://walthamforest.gov.uk/content/statisticsabout-borough. Accessed: 9th February 2019 Waltham Forest Council (2018). Available at: https://wfculture19.co.uk/about. Accessed: 9th February 2019 SALDAĂ‘A, J. (2013). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Los Angeles, SAGE Publications.