LCF YEAR OF THE WOMAN

In many ways London College of Fashion's history has contributed to the emancipation of women – over time we have seen an increase in women running their own businesses. Fashion is an industry dominated by women, with over three quarters of garment workers being women, and their exploitation remains one of the industry’s most significant challenges. And this is why we believe strongly in supporting women’s rights. At the college we believe in using the power of fashion to help drive social change.

In 1918, the Representation of the People Act gave the first British women the right to vote and stand for public office. One hundred years on, in order to celebrate the centenary of female suffrage in the UK, we have created #LCFYearofTheWoman - a year-long programme of activity which will include: a series of panel debates on current feminist issues; an exhibition ‘Motive / Motif’ based on the 1912 handkerchief embroidered by, and with the names of Suffragette prisoners at Holloway Prison; and, finally, a series of ‘pop up’ performances featuring suffragette characters, created by a group of our BA Costume for Performance students.

The Orange Label Project, run and supported by the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, and London College of Fashion, UAL, is an annual project to engage and connect the issue of violence against women with new audiences, particularly young people, through a series of creative activities. The project began in 2016 and in 2017 the UN Trust Fund awarded London College of Fashion its inaugural Orange Heart award for this work. This project sits under the College's Better Lives agenda, using fashion to drive change.

LCF today remains an essentially women’s college - 85% of our students are female and many of them are politically engaged. Women are at the core of both the college and the fashion industry. Here we explore the ways in which our female students are positively impacting society.

MA Fashion Media Production students from LCF are tackling gender issues head on, through print and digital publications, collaborating with female photographers and creatives and deconstructing the male gaze. Sukeban Magazine, for example, formed in Tokyo, Japan in December 2016 by Yuki Haze and LCF MA Media Production graduate Erika Bowes, due to a feeling of alienation and disillusion in the fashion industry. 

Over the last 100 years there have been great changes for women. But as the recent disputes at the BBC and the problems that the #MeToo generation are highlighting – our fight is far from over. At London College of Fashion we believe passionately that fashion is so much more than the clothes we wear. It can be used as a force for real change. We want to utilise the power of fashion to continue to fight for the rights of women and girls. We hope you will join us.