The luxury brand Alexander McQueen pledged an educational collaboration with East London teenagers

The iconic Alexander Mc Queen fashion brand decided to partner with the community youth arts organization "A-Team Arts Education" to give access to disadvantaged people to support their creative flair. The statement was made on all their social media platforms.

A” luxurious” collaboration in favour of arts

The House pays tribute to the late English designer and couturier Lee Alexander McQueen (1969-2010) in choosing to build this initiative with young people from Tower Hamlets, one of the most deprived areas in London. It is also one of the fastest growing, youngest and most diverse populations in the UK. The creator grew up there and in the 1990s decided to implement his studio in nearby Hoxton, a place where he worked on shows that later on launched his successful career.

Over the upcoming year, Alexander McQueen will make sure to provide for financial sustenance to A-Team Arts Education. It will also build on its existing workshop offering, enlisting its own design, textile, and embroidery experts to lead classes as part of the organization’s art and design pathways.

A series of educational and helping initiatives

This surge of solidarity is not exactly the first one for the House. Back in 2019, it started to give excess fabric from their collections, to twenty institutions at least, and community fashion projects across the UK. It gave the opportunity to diverse people to discover and get acquainted to archives of luxurious, and artisan-crafted fabrics. In 2020, during the pandemic, the brand organized creative  workshops for A-Team Arts Education. This charity often tries to connect with universities, therefore these collaborations widen the brand’s outreach to young people with free art-led holiday and Saturday programmes. They are sorts of talent scouts for teenagers from 13 to 19 hidden in the communities.

Many schools in Tower Hamlets have given up on the arts-oriented curriculum options in favour of science, technology, engineering, and maths subjects… A-Team Arts Education (ATEA) commits to these creative activities  on topics that may no longer be available in the area’s schools.

Sarah Burton, who took over the House’s artistic direction since 2010, wants to be a part of these actions. She takes this altruistic’s reach very seriously :

“At this house, we all know that talent comes from everywhere, irrespective of background. At a time when UK arts education is narrowing, being cut and young people are under pressure, we’re inspired and humbled to be able to join with A Team Arts Education in their exceptional grassroots work in providing fashion, textiles and art and design programmes.”

She said.

Alexander McQueen, an inspiration for next generation

On its side, the organization (ATAE) welcome this news with a lot of enthusiasm, believing it will help youth to achieve their goal as much other children. The director Sarbjit Natt said :

“Working with Alexander McQueen will provide inspiration, hope and opportunities to an area that has established links to the fashion and textiles industries that are now hidden through layers of history and a changing urban landscape (…)  The collaboration will help the arts to flourish in a positive way for young people and the wider community of East London.”

M. Natt insisted that the funding released are welcome in a period of time when local authorities are reducing their budget post-pandemic. In addition to finance their projects, Alexander McQueen will offer multiple classes and workshops like it did in 2020. The ATEA’s members will get the opportunity to attend live experiences with the fashion brand’s design etc. This initiative will take place up until 2022.