The British Fashion Council (BFC) is delighted to announce that Adwoa Aboah has renewed her Ambassadorship with the not-for-profit organisation for another year, as BFC Ambassador for Positive Fashion. During her first year, Adwoa helped the BFC lead a successful campaign for model’s health and diversity within the industry, leading the charge on change and using fashion as a positive platform to inspire future generations.
For 2019/2020, Adwoa turns her ambassadorship focus to education and to inspiring young people to get involved in the fashion industry by exposing them to the plethora of existing roles, other than fashion design. This September, the BFC in partnership with Adwoa is launching a Mentoring Programme which highlights the many different opportunities and careers in fashion and empowers young people from all backgrounds to get involved in the creative industries.
The mentoring programme will involve five key industry mentors, coupled with one mentee each, who will work together over a period of four months. The programme is open to any young people 18+ starting their careers in the fashion industry or aspiring to do so; no academic background is required.
The mentors, who have been chosen from a wide spectrum of careers throughout the industry including fashion, photography, styling, buying and journalism are:
Camilla Lowther, Founder, CLM
Campbell Addy, Founder of Nii Agency & Niijournal, Photographer & Filmmaker
Ibrahim Kamara, Stylist & Senior Fashion Editor at Large, i-D
Natalie Kingham, Buying Director, MATCHESFASHION.COM
Olivia Singer, Executive Fashion News Editor, British Vogue
The mentors will be paired with a mentee chosen through the BFC and Adwoa’s networks and meet for four two-hour sessions during the four-month period. The aim is to organise shadowing sessions, networking opportunities and key information sharing between mentor and mentee that will inspire and be invaluable to their future career plans. Applications are now open. Please visit https://www.britishfashioncouncil.co.uk/BFC-Initiatives--Support/BFC-Initiatives/Education/Mentoring-Scheme to find out the eligibility criteria and to apply.
Education is a key pillar of the BFC strategy and is led by Pillar Presidents Sarah Mower and Meribeth Parker, with the aim of attracting the best talent to the industry by giving students a clear understanding of how to study and train for a plethora of industry roles. The BFC Education Foundation raises funds to support students with the ability and potential to make an exceptional contribution to the fashion industry. Its initiatives include the National Fashion & Business Saturday Clubs, Apprenticeships, the BFC Colleges Council, the BFC Education Foundation and the Graduate Traineeships Programme. The BFC also works on the fashion industry’s skills agenda with UKFT to promote skills development in the fashion sector.