In defence of "placeshaping"...
Yesterday I attended the British Fashion Council's launch of their interim report for the Circular Fashion Innovation Network which I'm proud to be part of, representing RÆBURN as a voice in the room for independent, SMEs.
Since it launched last Autumn, in partnership with Innovate UK and UKFT Association, CFIN has become a vehicle for clear and conscise action as to the vision for the UK's industrial strategy: the UK will and should become a global hub and centre of excellence for the creative industries - in particular: #CircularEconomy #fashion (#textiles) and advanced manufacturing by 2032.
Working alongside other members of our Circular Business Model working group, such as John Lewis Partnership, Burberry, eBay has been a great experience as we've been able to sit around a table together (regularly) mapping out and sharing notes on what is working, what isn't working, and where we see genuine opportunities for growth and progress: findings that have been shared in this report.
On a personal note, the BFC team allowing me to dial in organisations such as LOANHOOD, (who we supported and incubated in #TheLabE20 and the East Village Placemaking Strategy (Get Living, 2020) into CFIN's conversations about circular retail and the future of rental: has been a truly full circle moment.
It demonstrates the often understated importance of placemaking - and strategic support placemakers such as Get Living can have, beyond their comfort zone, in facilitating and accelerating the growth of these #NextGen circular businesses.
But these "circular" moments do not happen by coincidence. The British Fashion Council's Institute of Positive Fashion were proactively involved in the placeshaping strategy for East Village, Stratford - that led to Christopher Raeburn and I creating #TheLabE20 as a grassroots incubator for circular economy & regenerative design.
One of the key takeaways, from CFIN is that the barrier to scaleability for circular business models is the cultural piece: so who better to influence these behavioural shifts, than the people building the homes, workspaces and retail that dictates the decision making both at board level and consumers on the shop floor?
I believe the realisation of the UK's new industrial strategy can ONLY be delivered through cross sector partnerships between local authorities, local developers and local enterprise.
This is all comes back to placeshaping strategies that stand at the intersection between citizen activism and cultural programming that shapes UK industrial strategy!
📸 Yesterday evening's event in #TheLabE20 as part of our #RegenerativeByDesign programme with #TheFutureofFashion "Is Fashion's Future Secondhand?", hosted by Gemma Metheringham, alongside partners Circle Collective and Reskinned.
More info here:
https://lnkd.in/et2tTn92
