M&S launches M&S Studio @ Fashion Street
Stars of Marks and Spencer’s new Autumn/Winter campaign attended the launch on Monday night, during London Fashion Week, of a unique new partnership between M&S and The British School of Fashion at M&S’s new design studio, M&S Studio @ Fashion Street.
Tracey Emin, Katie Piperand Helen Allenfrom the Britain’s Leading Ladies campaign joined guests from the world of fashion at the M&S Studio @ Fashion Street for a preview of M&S’s SS14 Best of British Womenswear Collection.
Marc Bolland, Chief Executive at M&S said: “M&S Studio @ Fashion Street in Shoreditch builds on M&S’s extensive design expertise, giving our team a vibrant new location from where they can draw inspiration for new collections. The M&S Fashion Scholarship is an exciting way for our designers to work with some of the British School of Fashion’s best young design talent and for M&S to invest in the British fashion leaders of tomorrow.”
The five year partnership with The British School of Fashion comprises three key elements:
M&S Studio @ Fashion Street - a working external design studio;
The M&S Fashion Scholarship - an annual £50,000 fashion bursary;
An Online Publishing Suite
M&S Studio @ Fashion Street
Equipped with everything needed to create a garment from sketch to first sample, M&S Studio will provide a creative space open to all M&S design teams to develop innovative ideas away from the office, whether designing trial garments for an M&S collection or adding finishing touches to existing pieces. M&S Studio complements M&S’s existing design facilities and several members of the design team will be permanently based on site.
The M&S Fashion Scholarship
M&S also announced the launch of the M&S Fashion Scholarship, an annual bursary of £50,000 to be awarded each year to support selected students on fashion courses at The British School of Fashion. The M&S Fashion Scholars will be selected by a panel of M&S and British School of Fashion experts, and will also benefit from M&S mentoring and use of the design space. The first M&S Fashion Scholars will be selected in February 2014.
Online Publishing Suite
As well as the design space, M&S Studio will house a digital content hub, opening M&S up to a rich variety of influences from the fashion world. An arm of M&S’s Digital Publishing team based at the Studio will share content, from documenting the design team’s work, showcasing some of the young British design talent at the university to sharing inspiration from London’s style trends.
Professor Christopher Moore, Director of the British School of Fashion said: "Glasgow Caledonian University is delighted to form this ground-breaking partnership with Marks and Spencer. Our British School of Fashion is at the forefront of fashion business thinking and this new initiative clearly demonstrates both creativity and innovation on the part of Marks and Spencer. We are looking forward immensely to working with the M&S team at Fashion Street."
Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University, Professor Pamela Gillies, said: “I am delighted that Marc Bolland and M&S have chosen to locate their new M&S Studio @ Fashion Street alongside the GCU British School of Fashion. I also warmly welcome the announcement of the M&S Fashion Scholarship fund. This will provide precious opportunities for study to GCU students from a wide range of backgrounds. It will also allow them to benefit from the unique experience of M&S mentoring in the business of fashion. At the launch of the GCU British School of Fashion last week, Marc graciously described GCU’s initiative as the ‘best of British in its truest sense’. We believe the M&S Studio is an equally creative concept that is both innovative and inspiring and we look forward to working with the M&S team and their imaginative Chief Executive in this bold and exciting venture.”