The partnership sees GFF become TikTok’s official merchandise partner across Europe, with products designed and created by Class of 2020 fashion graduates
Graduate Fashion Foundation and TikTok concluded their two-week manufacturing residency in Fashion Enter’s factory in North London on Friday evening, where 58 Class of 2020 graduates from across the UK, designed and manufactured TikTok’s first-ever range of European merchandise that is fashionable and distinctly TikTok.
The two-week project which was run under safe social distancing restrictions, ended with a celebratory showcase of the final garments to Graduate Fashion Foundation Global Ambassador Henry Holland, alongside Hilary Alexander OBE the charity President of GFF and Cassandra Russell, Brand Partnerships for Fashion and Retail at Tiktok.
Henry Holland, Designer and Global Ambassador for GFF said: “I’m so blown away and impressed by what the graduates have achieved in the last two weeks. They’ve done their own original prints, some have made up to 10 garments, one girl made 20 bags and the tenacity and the drive of these young people is insane. I’m really impressed.”
The graduates from GFF UK member universities participated in one of two 5-day creative TikTok residencies, held within a professional factory environment, giving them opportunity to access practical industry experience and learn new skills. Many graduates also designed their own bespoke printed for the fabrics. They learnt about design for manufacturing, grading and realising designs into commercial patterns, production lines, quality control, as well as being mentored by some of today’s leading designers, GFF patrons and TikTok Creators. Accommodation was provided by TikTok to all participating graduates along with a competition prize of £500 each.
The innovative and limited-edition designs produced for TikTok, will now be gifted to their Creator and VIP community. All winning graduates who attended the residency documented their design and manufacturing process on the platform, with relevant content curated in on the TikTokxGFF hashtag and @OfficialGFW profile.