My LCFMessaging

My LCFMessaging

Introduction

Welcome to your London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, messaging book. This document is designed to give you easy access to information on how we talk about ourselves, what we say when asked about who we are, and about specific aspects of what we do.

The messages in this booklet came together after workshops with staff where we consulted widely on the essence of what it means to be London College of Fashion, UAL.

And, in this second version of our published messaging, we are also incorporating some key messages that explain the College’s 4Fashion Project.

‘4Fashion’ is the project name for our move to a single campus on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in 2022. Our 4Fashion project covers the four areas of Education, Research, Enterprise and Better Lives.

Costume by Welber Leao, MA Costume Design for Performance, at LCF MA18 at Sadler’s Wells. Photography by Emmi Hyyppa.

1. London College of Fashion, UAL: Shaping Lives Through Fashion

We are ‘Shaping Lives Through Fashion.’ That’s why we exist, and you can use that to describe value at the heart of LCF. We believe in using the subject of fashion, together with its industrial importance, to shape lives and drive economic and social transformation.

If you need a longer description than that you can use the ‘About Us’ text, which can be found here on page 7

Our College messages sit under four statements describing the College’s relationship to fashion in the broadest sense. Aligning with our academic schools these statements explain to the world that, for us, Fashion Means Business, Fashion Tells Stories, Fashion Makes Style and Fashion Shapes Lives.

Feel free to pick and choose from more than one overarching message, they don’t always have to be used in isolation or describe the work of only one school. But if someone calls you up and wants to know about a particular aspect of what we do then you can use the most appropriate message to help you.

We’ve also highlighted particular activities and achievements that ‘prove’ our messages, so feel free to use these too, as well as any others you might be working on.

Womenswear by Tingyen Tung BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Development, Textiles by Sophie Louise Martin, BA (Hons) Fashion Textiles: Embroidery at the LCF BA18 fully digital immersive end of year show at Oval Space, east London. Photo by Tony Patterson-AVSLondon

2. How to use this bookletWe hope this is a handy source of key messaging and information that all our staff can use. We think it includes everything you might need to know to help you whether it’s when you are writing something for students or industry colleagues, or whether it’s for a presentation you’re doing or just in front of a newly enrolled class.

For a digital version of this messaging that you can copy and paste, please visit canvas.arts.ac.uk and search ‘LCF Messaging.’ This booklet also includes some writing tips and tone of voice descriptions. For example, there is no ‘the’ before London College of Fashion, UAL, and it should have UAL after it.

If you have any questions or need anything else to help in your communications please get in touch with the communications team and have a chat. We’d be happy to help.

Contact communications@fashion.arts.ac.uk

3. About LCFLondon College of Fashion, UALShaping Lives Through Fashion

London College of Fashion, UAL is a world leader in fashion design, media and business education. In boundary-pushing research where fashion intersects with science, engineering, and technology, and in enterprise, where it partners with top brands and helps launch new businesses. It has been nurturing creative talent for over a century, offering courses in all things fashion. Across every subject, it encourages students to examine the past and challenge the present. To have inventive, assertive ideas that challenge social and political agendas. It gives them the skills, opportunities – and above all, the freedom – to put those ideas into practice.

Some of our students learn fashion design – its heritage, craftsmanship, radical thinking and high-tech practice. Others develop analytical skill, creative thinking and business acumen. Others still: cutting-edge approaches to traditional, experiential, and interactive media. They all examine the present in light of its deep historical context. And learn how to use fashion to build a sustainable future, and improve the way we live.

In 2022, LCF is moving to a single site at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London. There we will continue to do what we do today: pioneer how we all consume and practice fashion. Use fashion design, business and media to shape culture, economics, and society. And through fashion, shape lives.

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Brand Pillars Fashion Means BusinessThrough inspirational teaching we nurture the next generation of creative leaders and thinkers who work in responsible, analytical and ingenious ways. Our strategic commercial partnerships support local and global enterprise. Students benefit from our connections with industry and so does industry.

+ The Fashion Business School at London College of Fashion, UAL has Small Business Charter status and is a member of the Chartered Association of Business Schools

+ Since 2012 London College of Fashion, UAL has supported over 1100 UK fashion Small/Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Brand Pillars Fashion Makes StyleIn design, we teach a combination of heritage and radical thinking. Craftsmanship and new technology. Engineering and in-depth design research. We teach innovative ideas first and then innovative practice to bring them to life.

+ London College of Fashion, UAL has been teaching craft techniques from 1906, whilst Cordwainers College was founded in 1887 and merged with LCF in 2000. In 2008 Cordwainers was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher Education

+ LCF’s Fashion Innovation Agency worked with Lucasfilm and Steven Tai on a live CGI presentation at London Fashion Week.

+ Making for Change is a fashion training and manufacturing unit within HMP Downview women’s prison. Established by the Ministry of Justice and London College of Fashion, the project aims to equip participants with professional skills and qualifications within a supportive environment, which increases wellbeing and reduces reoffending rates.

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Brand Pillars Fashion Tells StoriesWe nurture every student’s distinctive voice, teaching them how to challenge and define the future of fashion through cutting-edge mediaapproaches across all channels: broadcast, print, digital, interactive,experiential – and experimental.

+ Alumnus Robbie Spencer is Creative Director at Dazed, alumna Sarah Harris is Deputy Editor at Vogue, Nicola Jeal is Editor, Saturday Times Magazine and Emma McCarthy is Deputy Fashion Editor at the Evening Standard. Photographers Nadia Lee Cohen, Olivia Rose and Taylor Wessing third prize winner Kovi Konowiecki are also alum.

+ Alumni Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier won an Oscar anda BAFTA in 2015 for their involvement with Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel

Brand Pillars Fashion Shapes LivesFashion can change lives. Through teaching, specialist research, and collaborative work, we empower our students to think differently, using fashion to examine the past, build a sustainable future, and improve the way we live.

+ Professor Helen Storey MBE developed ‘Catalytic Clothing’ thatwashes in air purifying technology the clothes you already own,and in 2014 was awarded the Royal Designer for Industry Award

+ London College of Fashion collaborates with Art Against Knives on an annual bag-making summer school, supporting young people in making a permanent positive change and working with them to reduce the culture of violent crime in their communities.

+ London College of Fashion, UAL works with women’s prisonson projects including a manufacturing unit to aid the rehabilitation of offenders

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4. Our 4Fashion ProjectIn 2022 London College of Fashion, UAL will move to a single site on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London. It is a new development with other cultural organisations such as Sadler’s Wells, V&A, BBC, and other universities Loughborough and UCL. This development is being run by London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) and the Greater London Authority (GLA). We are usually referred to in any move related literature as ‘UAL’s London College of Fashion’ as this is part of a programme of capital works for UAL colleges. LLDC’s objectives for the site are to significantly boost economic growth nationally by enhancing skills and creating sustainable local jobs.

We call this relocation project 4Fashion, not only because we stand for Fashion - but because it’s how we will continue to work with local, national and international partners to deliver against our four major priorities:

– Delivering excellent fashion education for all who choose it– Encouraging enterprise and incubation to support our students, alumni and the wider fashion economy– Driving impactful research to effect change and innovation– Building Better Lives, for a sustainable and socially conscious future

But the move is even more than how we’ve described it above. It’s about our staff, students and graduates recognising that this is a significant step in the history of LCF.

The College has the opportunity to redefine what fashion is by connecting its range of disciplines for the first time and under one roof, and to show London and the world what these possibilities look like. Digital developers will work alongside designers; psychologists will collaborate with image creators; and marketing theorists will join forces with curators.

We want to acknowledge the people involved in this significant move – those who are with us now as well as all those who have been involved in getting us to this point. We’re always keen on hearing your memories of LCF too, such as stories and photographs of our sites over the years. We are running a series of events and publications called The New Local with the team from Fashion Space Gallery. The outputs from these will be edited into a series of publications that will inform the design of architectural amulets installed in the new building, so you can be a part of the building legacy. Watch out for information on the 4Fashion blog and your e-newsletters.12

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CGI of LCF’s new building June 2018, courtesy Allies and Morrison

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5. Proof Points2022 might seem like a long time to wait for the move, but there has already been a lot of work under our priority areas that will bring benefits to our staff, students, alumni and the local community. You can see examples of this below, and you can also see how our 4Fashion priorities fit with our LCF brand pillars.

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LCF leading development of the Fashion District, making a

commitment to growing east London’s economy through innovation in fashion tech,

manufacture, funding and skills.

LCF partnering with Poplar HARCA and The Trampery to

develop a row of disused garages in east London into a fashion and

makery enterprise centre. The centre is due to open in 2019.

LCF’s Centre for Sustainable Fashion partnering with Kering to create a new kind of fashion

graduate who can support sustainable practices and

innovation within the industry and push for real change.

LCF establishing the Making for Change training and

manufacturing unit within HMP Downview women’s prison. The project aims to increase

well-being and reduce reoffending rates equipping participants with professional skills and

qualifications within a supportive environment.

LCF’s student enterprise team funding Fashion Business School

student Kristi Kuiken’s online platform ‘Podium’. It uses VR give a safe rehearsal space to those who are nervous about

public speaking.

LCF, with East Bank partners, launching EAST-Education,

the vision to build a distinctive EAST Curriculum aimed at

children and young people and predicated on creativity, inquiry

and technology. A collective ambition to raise awareness,

aspiration and attainment amongst young east Londoners.

LCF developing a new research centre in Fashion Business

and Innovation -exploring how traditional economic rules are

being bent and how the fashion industry requires creative and

flexible management approaches.

LCF becoming part of the Global Disability Innovation Hub. This

research hub set up by Olympic Park partners and led by UCL

aims to make a difference to the lives of a billion disabled people

by 2030.

LCF’s student enterprise team funding Lara Intimates, a business

started by two LCF Contour alumni who make lingerie from reclaimed sustainable fabrics.

They manufacture in London to ensure a sustainable supply chain.

LCF students made costumes for East Wall - a large-scale spectacle of dance at the Tower of London as part of LIFT 2018. Directed by renowned choreographer Hofesh Shechter, the project considered

race, diversity and cultural identity alongside the rich history of the

Tower of London and Tower Hamlets.

LCF working with Art Against Knives and Ally Capellino.

Young creatives from Tower Hamlets, Newham and Hackney spent time in our Golden Lane

studios learning traditional leatherwork skills.

The social responsibility team at LCF are working with a number of communinties in east London such as Morningside Mums, who attended a workshop at Sutton House to make coats for their

children (2017)

LCF’s joint-funded PhDs with Olympic Park neighbours V&A and Sadler’s Wells - currently focusing on subjects such as

fur alternatives, and the hip hop chorus line.

Reviewing our Credit Framework on the basis of extensive research

with staff and students. Our curriculum now allows greater emphasis on deeper student

learning and support and more flexibility and collaboration with

other courses or disciplines.

PhD student Stefan Vidler looking into ‘Coded Clothing: How

computational design can affect the future of the design process

from a fashion perspective’.

Through LCF’s Digital Anthropolgy Lab, PhD student Michele Danjoux

examining ‘Design in Motion’ - an exploration of choreosonic

wearables in performance.

Fashion Means Business Fashion Makes StyleFashion Shapes Lives Fashion Tells Stories

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6. FAQBelow are some questions we’ve been asked by students, staff and parents. Please feel free to refer to these if you are being asked questions about the move. You can use these for students, other staff, alumni or other contacts.

Why are you moving?Short answer: To bring our students, staff and courses together under one roof for the first time so that we have more opportunities to collaborate.

Longer answer: To bring our students, staff and courses together under one roof for the first time in our 112 year history. The fashion industry does not work by subject, and we’ve been teaching collaboration across courses for a few years now, and it has become increasingly obvious that there are increased opportunities in having all of us together.

We’ve also always had feedback that staff and students felt like they didn’t have enough chance to get to know each other, so we are building a true LCF community in one place, with shared work and social spaces.

The idea is also to reduce the cost and time it takes to travel around London to our different sites. This is the first time LCF has been in a building that has been purpose built for us (many of our current sites have been repurposed, such as office or school buildings) so the move gives us the opportunity to design our building just how we want it.

Of course, finding somewhere big enough for all of us, as well as the specialist spaces we need now, and trying to imagine what we might need in the future, meant that we needed to explore new areas of London. The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park development is in a rapidly expanding area of east London with a year on year increase in its young population (age 16 – 24) and an increased gross value-added (GVA) figure from fashion industries (up 57% between 2010 and 2015 according to a report in 2017 by data company BOP Consulting). It is well connected by transport and when we started talking to our potential neighbours on the park development we knew it was the right place to bring us huge opportunities for education, enterprise, research and Better Lives.

Who will be studying in the new building? Short answer: All students starting in September 2022 will start in the new building and selected longer courses before that will complete some of their course there.

Longer answer: Students starting September 2018 on: • Five year courses (four year courses with a DiPS year in industry), will spend their final year of study in the new building.

Students starting September 2019 on: • Five year courses (four year course with a DiPS year in industry) will spend their last 2 years of study in the new building.• Four year courses or three year courses with a DiPS year in industry will spend their final year of study in the new building.

Students starting September 2020:• Five year courses (four year course with a DiPS year in industry) will spend their last 3 years of study in the new building.• Four year courses or three year courses with a DiPS year in industry will spend their last 2 years of study in the new building. • Three year courses will spend their final year of study in the new building.

Students starting September 2021:• Five year courses (four year course with a DiPS year in industry) will spend their last 4 years of study in the new building.• Four year courses or three year courses with a DiPS year in industry will spend their last 3 years of study in the new building. • Three year courses will spend their last 2 years of study in the new building. • 15 month postgraduate courses will finish in the new building.

All students starting in September 2022 will be in the new building.

If I’m not moving how does this affect me?Short answer: Everyone who has been part of London College of Fashion over the years, both as staff and students, will be encouraged to use the new building, and this destination will cement the reputation of LCF as world-leading, which impresses potential employers.

Longer answer: The reputation of your College/University really matters in the world of careers. Potential employers are interested in where you studied, and LCF’s reputation will continue to be world-leading as we use the opportunity of the move to create more industry partnerships.

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We collaborate with our alumni across all courses, and alumni as well as previous staff members are encouraged to return to LCF sites to use our facilities. We intend to increase opportunities for our alumni to work with us in the new building. We are developing a new centre for fashion enterprise and innovation - an evolution of the Centre for Fashion Enterprise that connects students, alumni & businesses. It will deliver world class enterprise education for our student body and support our alumni community to realise their enterprise ambitions, providing opportunities through our incubation spaces and programmes to enable businesses to scale and grow. It will benefit from the networks and activities of the Fashion District, including innovation challenges, skills development and access to finance through the London Fashion Fund.

What is being done to maintain the current LCF sites before the move?Short answer: Lots!

Longer answer: We are not neglecting any of our current buildings before we move. In fact we have an extensive programme of works to update and improve our estate. For example, we just refurbished the toilets on levels 2, 3 and 4 at John Princes Street, and the lounge and canteen at Lime Grove.

What will happen to the current LCF sites after we move?All our sites are governed by the UAL Estates Strategy, but we are assessing the possibility of retaining the Mare Street site for continued UAL use. Studies are being undertaken to assess viability for a number of different long term uses. The remainder of the LCF estate will become surplus to requirements and will be disposed of. Work has commenced on formulating a disposal strategy for the surplus real estate.

What is happening to our accommodation?UAL has a student accommodation portfolio of over 3500 beds geographically spread across London and held on a mixed tenure basis. This portfolio of accommodation is continuously being assessed for suitability. LCF’s move to Stratford marks a significant shift eastwards in where UAL students are taught and as such we are working to ensure that in the future we hold new accommodation across east London.

Will we have new equipment?Short answer: Yes – we are investing in new equipment. Not just for the move though, for example the new Digital Learning Lab at Mare Street.

Longer answer: Yes – we are investing in new equipment. Not just for the move though, we have a capital bids project every year where

we assess what we need and replace and maintain. For example, the Digital Learning Lab at Mare Street has all new equipment such as VR headsets and 3D printing and scanning, which all students and staff have access to, as well as technicians on hand to advise. This is all part of our commitment to using technology with our students to really innovate and experiment, and we are planning to expand this offering to other sites.

How can students feed in?There will be a student change network which is a forum for consulting with students from now right up until the time we move. For more information please contact Anna Jobson or Paulo Ramos.

How can I find out more about the new facilities?Short answer: We will be updating our 4Fashion blog at blogs.arts.ac.uk/4fashion with new pictures, features and information.

Longer answer: We will be updating our 4Fashion blog at blogs.arts.ac.uk/4fashion with new pictures and features as soon as we are into the detailed interior design, which will be starting in 2019.The Alumni Officer will be in regular communication with alumni to share benefits before and after the move, such as use of our libraries and auditorium spaces. We encourage you to get in touch to add your email address to our mailing list – please email alumni@fashion.arts.ac.uk We are also asking alumni – both staff and student alumni – to get in touch with memories or photographs of LCF over the years. Please get in touch with us at: thenewlocal@fashion.arts.ac.uk

Can alumni use the new building?Shorter answer: Yes! We encourage our alumni to come back to use the library, and to find out from the alumni team which parts of the building alumni will be able to access.

Longer answer: Yes! We encourage our alumni to come back to use the library, and to find out from the alumni team which parts of the building alumni will be able to access. There will be potential for alumni to connect to the new Centre for Fashion Enterprise & Innovation.

Will the building be sustainable?We are aiming to achieve BREEAM outstanding status, which is the highest sustainability rating for the building. Energy consumption is a key criteria for this so we expect to be highly efficient here.

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What can I tell students?Shorter answer: Everything in this booklet is designed to help you explain to students and potential students about the move.

Longer answer: Everything in this booklet is designed to help you explain to students and potential students about the move. Of course there are some questions that we don’t know the answer to yet, but we will keep you updated on everything we know throughout the process. Look out for your Need to Know emails, My.LCF newsletters, and the change network meetings, and if you want to speak to someone directly about the move you can email Anna Jobson or Communications@fashion.arts.ac.uk

At each all-staff meeting (in Summer and Christmas each year) we will ask staff for specific feedback on the move, and we really do encourage you to tell us your thoughts. This is always anonymous and it goes on to create our FAQ so we endeavour to get you the answers to your questions.

We will be consulting with students directly too, and are in regular contact with Arts SU, so if students want to talk to their peers about the move they can speak to the union.

How will this affect my job?We haven’t yet worked out the implications for our organisational structure of moving from six sites to one. We are developing detailed plans for our shape and health programme including looking at best ways in which we can obtain your thoughts and ideas about the move and your job.

LCF’s social responsibility team worked with the Making for Change manufacture unit in HMP Downview to make the banners for Processions, a mass-participation national art project in celebration of the 100th anniversary of votes for women, 10 June 201820

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7. Myth BustingWe thought we’d answer some of the questions and comments that we hear most frequently.

Stratford is miles away!Stratford is one of the best connected places in London, in Zone 2. It is served by international, national and local rail lines (and more train connections than Waterloo at peak), as well as several underground lines. From 2019, it will be served by the new Queen Elizabeth line. It is also served by multiple bus routes. In addition, Stratford is one of London’s prime spots for cycling, running and walking, with more than 300 bikes available for hire in and around the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

There will be less teaching space than we have nowand the teaching space is all open so the noise levels will betoo high. We are testing the current floorplates through a ghost timetabling exercise, but across all specialist and general learning environments there has been an uplift in square meterage compared with our current buildings. There won’t be enough (big) lecture spaces In the current plan, we will have four medium-sized lecture theatres and one large lecture theatre. The building is modular, which means that we can move walls as our needs change over time, so if we need more lecture space than this in future, we will be able to adjust the floor plates. We are planning to run a timetabling exercise this summer to test the current plan to give us comfort that it will serve our current needs. We don’t know what the process is for deciding who sits where and there won’t be enough desks The process for deciding who sits where hasn’t happened yet. We are planning on the principle that there will be scholarly offices and operational offices adjacent to each subject hub, with more offices in the lower parts of the building and a further group of offices in the higher floors. In principle, people will be able to find a space to work close to where they need to, although we don’t currently plan to allocate permanent desks to staff. We are assuming that most staff will be able to move towards an agile form of working, and we plan to trial this new way of working before we go.

Will there be showers? and Will there be a dedicated space for storing my personal possessions? Yes, there will be 18 showers. And yes, there will be space for staff to store their personal possessions.

I don’t understand how to/no one has asked me to participate in the consultationsThe process by which we are consulting on the development of the building has been published on Canvas and is sent out in your Need to Know email every Friday. In this process, most consultees have been selected by senior management, although we have experimented with running a number of open access workshops, and we have also run a workshop with the change network, which is representative of LCF and UAL staff working at LCF. Other work streams have also incorporated an element of consultation, notably the credit framework review and the shape and health programme, which has run a number of themed focus groups which were open to all staff. We tend to keep staff informed via Need to Know, so do look for further information there about forthcoming consultation and how to get involved. If you are interested in joining the Change Network please contact Anna Jobson or Paulo Ramos.

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8. Quick Building Facts• There will be more square meterage across all specialist and general learning environments than our current buildings• We have no plans to expand student numbers• There will be eight lifts, which will all go to all 13 floors• There will be a staff room on the 10th floor• The principle will be agile working for most staff, with Executive Group also working in this way• The first three floors will be open to the public• The building will be zoned into a series of subject hubs which will broadly align with the schools• The building layout will be substantially confirmed by April 2019• All windows will be openable and there will be some mechanical ventilation as well where needed - we are aiming for 18 - 22 degrees• We will be able to hold catwalk shows on site• There are a number of large roof terraces for staff, students, and potentially events• There will be a college shop for supplies• There will be a dye garden• The building will be licensed so there will be an opportunity to run bars in our food and beverage facilities• We aim to have some yoga/fitness classes in the building as well as preferential rates in the nearby Olympic sporting facilities

LCF x Microsoft student project at LCF BA18 degree show at Oval Space, June 2018. Photograph by Jason Purple

9. Cheat SheetHere’s your quick-reference guide to our confident, conversational and bright tone of voice.

1. As we are part of UAL, we never write London College of Fashion on its own – we write London College of Fashion, UAL, or if it is the first time in the document, both names in full; London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London. 2. There is no ‘the’ before London College of Fashion, or University of the Arts London. 3. Edit until your writing is snappy: simplify and cut repetitions. 4. If you make a claim, make sure you give evidence. 5. Write how you speak: use we, our and you, it’s and they’re, and the active tense. 6. Ask questions. 7. Keep the pace energetic, with a mix of long and short sentences.

10. Our VoiceOur tone of voice defines how we sound, across all communications – written and spoken, from an advertising campaign to an email.

Our voice is an expression of our personality – it comes from who we are.

So who are we? A world leader in fashion education, business and research. A collaborator.

We convey this in a voice that is:Confident ConversationalBright

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Designtsowc.com Jewellery by Emily Xitong He BA (Hons) Fashion Jewellery. Photograph by Argiel Del Mundo

Your LCF Messaging booklet, updated in 2018 to add information about 4Fashion; our move to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Use this book to find out about what LCF stands for, and how we talk about what it means to be part of London College of Fashion,University of the Arts London. Here you can find out about our new home for 2022 and easy answers to frequently asked questions from staff, students and alumni about the move.