Iconic British boxing brand Lonsdale today announced an exciting new partnership with LCF. Second year students on the BA (Hons) Fashion Sportswear course will be challenged to design a collection for the brand as part of their assessment. A judging panel will select a winning collection to go into production, which will be retailed in over 400 sportsdirect.com stores around the country.

Sarah Baker, Marketing Manager at Lonsdale said:

We at Lonsdale are very excited about the project with London College of Fashion as we hope it will take the brand in a more style led direction that hasn’t been seen from the brand since the 1960’s when it was popular with high profile personalities such as Paul Weller and Tony Curtis. We hope that the student’s collections will be innovative and inspiring, reflecting exciting new concepts that will attract a new target market for the brand.

Design Manager Kate O’Neill delivered a brief that consisted of development of a premium Spring/Summer 13 men’s or women’s lifestyle fitness inspired collection drawing upon Lonsdale’s sporting heritage.

There are 17 students taking part in the project, four of which are on an exchange programme at LCF from Lycee de Mode in France. Claudine Rousseau, Course Leader, BA (Hons) Fashion Sportswear commented:

We are really fortunate to be working with such a high profile brand; the students are really looking forward to rising to the challenge of developing some exciting creative yet commercially viable designs.

The final judging will take place in June with the winning collection going into stores in January 2013 – watch this space for future updates!

• BA (Hons) Fashion Sportswear course information
• Follow Lonsdale at www.facebook.com/lonsdale
• Read about this project on Drapers online

Deborah Landis before her talk at LCF

Last week Professor Deborah Landis, film and theatre costume designer, gave a talk to costume and fashion students covering her career which includes notable films as Animal House, Three Amigos, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Deborah is a professor at University of the Arts London and curator of ‘Hollywood Costume’, the much anticipated V&A exhibition which will be the largest of its kind in decades.

This event is launches a series of talks titled Marking the Paradigm Shift in Design for Performance Through Costume organised by Donatella Barbieri for the Research Hub in Performance, LCF.

Future events will include masterclasses with Nicky Gillibrand, at the V&A on 22nd May, and Dr Melissa Trimingham in July at the Barbican.

This week is ORCHID Male Cancer Awareness Week (23-29 April) and to kick off proceedings we’re really excited to share with you an exclusive behind the scenes film about the launch of this year’s winning T-Shirt designed by BA (Hons) Fashion Illustration student Sasha Helim, which is AVAILABLE now in HOUSE OF FRASER Stores across the UK.

Each year over 37,000 men will be diagnosed with a male-specific cancer; from sons to grandfathers all men face the risk of prostate, penile or testicular cancer. Here at LCF, for the second year in a row, we teamed up with ORCHID and Raging Bull to brief all three years from BA (Hons) Fashion Illustration to design an iconic T-Shirt which encourages the men in our lives to check themselves regularly and to help raise vital funds for ORCHID, who are the UK’s leading charity fighting against male cancer.

To get involved follow ORCHID through Twitter and help them reach 1,000 followers this week and make sure you get down to House of Fraser to grab your very own T-Shirt as modelled by a gorgeous line up of guys including model BB Kaye and TV presenter Matt Johnson.

Check back this week for more information on London College of Fashion’s collaboration, including the high profile fashion judging panel and celebrity shoot.

• Buy a T-shirt from House of Fraser
• Read more about Orchid Male Cancer and the charity’s fantastic work
• Follow Orchid on Twitter to get them to 1,000 followers!

Times Higher Education logo

London College of Fashion have been nominated for the Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards 2012 in the category of Outstanding Marketing/Communications Team.

The Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards 2012 celebrate the talented and dedicated staff working to steer universities and colleges through a time of unprecedented change. The winners will be announced on 21 June. Fingers crossed!

• Read more about the awards and the rest of the nominees

Work from the Centre for Sustainable Fashion and designers Michelle Lowe-Holder and Noel Stewart

LCF’ s Centre for Sustainable Fashion have been working with Marks and Spencer (M&S) and Oxfam to create the UK’s first Sustainable Fashion Lab in the heart of East London, at the Old Truman Brewery.

The project involves LCF’s MA Fashion and the Environment students and brings together an exciting array of designers, stylists and thought-leaders who will be exploring and debating the future of a more sustainable fashion industry.

The project will give M&S customers a behind-the-scenes look into the world of 21st Century fashion and offer the opportunity to witness the stars of environmentally friendly fashion at work. Eco-conscious visitors will even be able to try their hand at designing and creating their own items through expert-led master classes.

Customers can take unwanted items of clothing to the lab and each item will be assessed for potential use and will either be reused and transformed in the lab or handed to Oxfam to resell or recycle.

The M&S Sustainable Fashion Lab, in partnership with Oxfam and LCF’s Centre for Sustainable Fashion at the Old Truman Brewery, London, is open between 10am – 5pm every day (except Mondays) from 26 April – 9 May 2012.

The events calender is packed full of workshops and talks from LCF’s Dilys Williams and Dr Kate Fletcher as well as menswear designer Christopher Raeburn. Read the full event listing here.

• Read more about the Centre for Sustainable Fashion
• Read more on the M&S website
• Full event listing