Fashion Open Studio and British Council launch a series of studio events andworkshops with nine international designers for COP26
Fashion Open Studio in partnership with British Council will present a series of ten
international digital events in response to the themes of the United Nations Climate Change
Conference COP26. Launching at Digital Design Weekend at the V&A, during London
Design Festival in September 2021, nine participating designers from across the world havebeen selected to open up their studios virtually to showcase their creative responses tofashion’s environmental impact and the climate talk themes of Adaptation and Resilienceand Nature. The digital event series will take place 25 September - 12 November, forming
part of British Council's The Climate Connection global programme and campaign.
Designers will be taking part from Argentina, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, SouthAfrica, Thailand, Turkey and Zimbabwe. Each designer offers a perspective in response to
their own experience. From Cape Town, Sindiso Khumalo will be showing that social andenvironmental issues are interconnected. She will be demonstrating repair techniques anddiscussing inequality and the need for dignified employment to create resilient communities.
Bhukram is a Thai brand devoted to preserving and promoting the indigenous Phu Phan
community’s way of life and its natural environment. Their event will offer a rare glimpse into
the founder’s home studio in the Bhupan region in north east Thailand and embroidery
techniques that tell the stories of community and nature. From Jakarta, Indonesia, Toton will
be conducting a virtual studio tour, demonstrating their denim upcycling techniques, andsharing the work of an artisan group in Garut, a small town in west Java to highlight theircollaboration. Bora Studio also works with local indigenous communities around Nepal withnatural dyeing and traditional craft techniques and will show how a highly localised supply
chain and community works in practice, in harmony with people and planet.
The event series will be animated by a physical activation in Glasgow during COP26 (1-12November) which will offer the public and COP26 attendees alike an opportunity to interact
with the open studio activities in person.

The cohort of designers will have opportunities for skills and knowledge sharing to supportand strengthen their work and knowledge, and the workshop series will culminate in aSpeedshare networking event exploring the themes of COP26 in depth. The nine designers
selected to take part are Garcia Bello (Argentina/Netherlands), Aranya Craft x Rahemur
Rahman (Bangladesh/London), Iro Iro (India), Toton (Indonesia), Bora Studio (Nepal),Sindiso Khumalo (South Africa), Bhukram, (Thailand), Huner (Turkey) and Vimbai
Natasha Naomi, (Zimbabwe).
Fashion is one of the most damaging industries in terms of its pollution and greenhouse gasemissions. As a significant contributor to climate change, it is important to highlight some ofthe solutions the creative and innovative change makers in the fashion community are
putting into practice. Tangible solutions and small-scale innovations have the potential totransform the burdensome impact of the fashion industry.
Orsola de Castro, Global Creative Director Fashion Revolution says: “Fashion Open Studioengages with young and established brands, with the people who make our clothes, forirreverent and forward thinking debates and workshops that stimulate different viewpoints –COP26 is a crucial moment to put forward viable alternatives to create much needed change
to the fashion system.”
Sevra Davis, Director of Architecture Design Fashion at British Council says: “We are excited
to be collaborating with Fashion Open Studio to bring important themes of COP26 to life
through the work of designers who are leading change in the fashion industry around theworld. This exchange is at the heart of the British Council Climate Connection, which puts
young people at the centre of climate change solutions in order to participate in dialogue,
debate and action.”
COP26 FOS LIVE EVENT PROGRAMMETo bring this Fashion Open Studio series during COP26 to life in Glasgow we havecommissioned South-London based design collective Peut-Porter to create a roaming
wearable installation based around the concept of human billboards and Victorian ‘Banner
Ladies’. Between 5 November - 7 November this installation will pop up in 9 locations acrossthe city which will play host to workshops based around techniques, skills and perspectives
shared in the digital events created by each designer. The installation will stop in studios,
community spaces and cultural locations in the city to connect with local designers, makers
and communities who will learn the techniques from the designers and pass them on to apublic audience to mend, upcycle, repair and regenerate their clothes. The wearable
sculpture will shed a piece at each location leaving a trail of smaller sculptures in these hostvenues across the city.
These small-scale but meaningful and tangible solutions respond to the COP26 themes ofNature and Adaptation & Resilience showing that fashion can play a role in conserving andrestoring the environment and in valuing people, communities and their surroundings overprofit. The designers have been twinned with spaces, people and communities who share anethos, practice or approach with their work in order to deepen the relationships between thefashion and environmental community in Glasgow and their counterparts around the world.
Full event listings:
5 November
09.30 - 11.00 Embroidery as repair by Sindiso Khumalo hosted by Glasgow Clyde College,
Cardonald Campus
12.00 - 13.30 A sail's journey to it's second life, as a keychain by huner hosted by Galgaels
15.00 - 16.30 Nature as inspiration by Bhukram hosted by Woodlands Community Garden
6 November
10.00 - 11.30 Autumn leaves eco-printing workshop by Bora Studio hosted by Print Clan
14.00 - 15.30 Zero to IRO IRO by you zero waste pattern workshop by IRO IRO hosted byAlis Le May
16.00 - 17.30 Upcycling techniques for denim by Toton and Rejean Studio Glasgow
7 November
10.00 - 11.30 This garment is connected to my story by Garcia Bello hosted by Apparel
Xchange14.00 - 15.30 Patching stories through stitches by Aranya Craft and Rahemur Rahman
hosted by Rags to Riches collective at The Deep End
16.00 - 17.30 RESTORATION performance and mosaic technique workshop by Vimbai
Natasha Naomi hosted by Bawn Textiles
Register for tickets on www.fashionopenstudio.com/events/
Please note places are limited and bookings are on a first come first served basis.
You can follow the trail around the city from 8 November - 11 November via the sculpturesleft at each host venue. For those who are not in Glasgow you can follow the project on theproject website https://fashionopenstudio.hotglue.me/ and @fashionopenstudio onInstagram.
NOTES TO EDITORSAll events will be free to access and available to book at www.fashionopenstudio.com
Social media: @fashionopenstudio #FashionOpenStudio @british_design@britisharts #theClimateConnection

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Images are available here
Fashion Open Studio
Established in 2017, Fashion Open Studio is a Fashion Revolution initiative. As ashowcasing platform, the purpose is to shine a spotlight on best practice and innovation
being led by fashion and textile designers, biotech start-ups and retail disruptors. As
well as radical new start ups, FOS has attracted some of the industry's biggest names tocollaborate, including Vivienne Westwood, Bethany Williams and Christopher Raeburn. The
designers are selected for their commitment to a clearly defined criteria of responsible
design and systemic innovation. Designers share best practice in a transparent and open
manner, in a way that offers access and stimulates discussion and questions.
www.fashionopenstudio.com
Fashion Revolution
Fashion Revolution is the world’s largest fashion activism movement, formed after the Rana
Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh in 2013 which killed over 1,100 people. Fashion
Revolution campaigns for a clean, safe, fair, transparent and accountable fashion industry
through research, education, collaboration, mobilisation and advocating for policy change.
Fashion Revolution is a global movement with country offices and voluntary teams in 90
countries. Fashion Revolution believes in a global fashion industry that conserves andrestores the environment and values people over growth and profit. In order to achieve thisgoal, the organisation conducts research that shines a light on the fashion industry’s
practices and impacts, highlights where brands and retailers are moving too slowly andincentivises and promotes transparency and accountability across the supply chain.

www.fashionrevolution.org
British Council
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations andeducational opportunities. We build connections, understanding and trust between people in
the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education and the English language. In
2019-2020 we reached over 75 million people directly and 758 million people overall
including online, broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934 we are a UK charity
governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body. We receive a 14.5 per cent core funding
grant from the UK government.
www.britishcouncil.org
British Council The Climate Connection
The Climate Connection is the British Council's global platform for dialogue, cooperation andaction against climate change. It will reach millions of people from the UK and the rest of theworld through collaborative and creative solutions to the climate crisis. The ClimateConnection engages people through three interconnected activity strands in the arts,
education and English sectors: Engaging young people; engaging leaders and policymakers
and engaging the public.