A colourful crew collided in Hackney last night when royalty called by The Trampery on Mare Street to celebrate the provision of studio space for some of London's most talented designers.
Designers Holly Fulton (pictured), Lou Dalton and James Long have all taken up studio space in the newly refurbished bright and airy building, which is operated by the London College of Fashion, Hackney Community College and The Trampery, an organisation that designs and creates space for entrepreneurs and creative types in east London.
It had previously concentrated on the tech industry, providing start-ups with office spaces to further innovation through mutual support and Charles Armstrong, director of The Trampery, said last night, 'It was almost inevitable that we would turn our attention to the fashion industry ... fashion has been an integral part of the East End since the 16th century. It's a £20 billion industry, one of the real strengths of the UK economy, but it hasn't had anything like the attention lavished on it that the technology sector has. And that's something we can do in this building, begin to remedy that.'
The new building will provide comfortable, bright, well-located studio space for established designers like Fulton, Dalton and Long, who were all in attendance last night, as well as designers at an earlier stage of their career and Hackney Community College students pursuing fashion. The building was also buzzing with fashion interns yesterday, who have come on board as designers face into the busiest two months of the year as they prepare for the spring 14 shows.
As well as a typical fashion audience – Virginia Bates and a host of well-attired east London types sipped wine as the designers and Armstrong took to the stage – the Hackney mayor, Jules Pipe, called in on the opening soiree and, even more incongruously, the event boasted a member of the royal family. Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, a man you might think, perhaps naively, is rarely spotted in the Mare Street direction, attended the evening in his role of patron of The Trampery.
If you're not in the market for a studio space but want to get in on The Trampery action, you can call into the cafe on the ground floor. Operated by the hipster bike people, Look Mum No Hands, it's about as new Hackney as you can get and you'll surely spot a star-of-tomorrow designer lurking about too...
