Monsoon announces a new partnership with Making for Change 

Fashion retailer Monsoon announces a trailblazing new partnership with London College of Fashion’s Making for Change and social enterprise FabricWorks, a project of charity Stitches in Time, as part of its commitment to free-spirited sustainability. This project is part of a long term partnership forged between Monsoon and London College of Fashion UAL.

This is a capsule collection of eight hand-embroidered denim and knitwear pieces, exuding warmth and bursting with optimism. The project has used absolutely zero new materials. The eight items, including ponchos, jeans, dress, and dungarees and are all surplus stock from previous seasons; reinvented with intricate embroidery techniques (using thread off-cuts) designed specifically for each garment.

Not only is this a zero-waste project, but the partnerships with Making for Change and FabricWorks bring an additional layer of optimism. Making for Change and FabricWorks, both social initiatives, are based in Poplar and Limehouse, in east London. Both initiatives provide industry-standard training programmes, alongside the production enterprise which offer employment opportunities to marginalised women from the local community. The creation of these safe, empowering spaces enables the women to gain self-esteem and self-confidence whilst achieving financial independence. Eight women across these two projects worked on pieces from the collection together, and collaborated with the Monsoon design team, to create these unique designs, working on each garment by hand.

“We are proud to be the first major retailer to partner with Making for Change and Stitches in Time,” says Caroline Jackson, Monsoon’s Design Director. “As a business, we want to create solutions rather than problems, and to inspire the next generation of designers that we can do more with less. This collection is made up of one-off limited-edition pieces which we expect to sell out quickly as the Monsoon woman not only loves this level of fun and femininity but also likes to make thoughtful choices when it comes to fashion.”

Claire Swift, Director of Social Responsibility at London College of Fashion, UAL, says: “We were really pleased that Monsoon were fully invested in the community-focused approach from the outset. This unique collaboration provides an opportunity to reimagine the garment retail and production industry, by not only showcasing social initiatives, low-carbon, and circular economy principles, but also providing a model for the wider sector to follow.”

Anna Ellis, Head of Business Development from Making for Change, says: “At Making for Change creating new approaches to manufacturing through circular and sustainable practices is one of our key drivers.  It was so exciting to work with Monsoon who had the vision and creativity to put circular principles into action.  We are all very proud of the results.”

The collection is available online now at www.monsoon.co.uk.