Recently opened in North London, THE FARA WORKSHOP is a charity shop with a difference. As with the charity’s fifty other UK retail outlets, the profits generated from this brand new London store support The FARA Foundation’s work with disadvantaged children in Romania. However, in this particular store, a dedicated design team is on hand. Their mission? ‘To transform clothing and fabrics that have been generously donated to FARA charity shops, incorporating a variety of processes and techniques reworking them into a fabulous collection of wearable delights’.
Creative Director Anna Crawley explained the concept behind THE FARA WORKSHOP’s well-made, design-led collection of clothing and accessories: ‘Everything we make here is unique and pretty much one of a kind, we feel we are creating affordable and very wearable contemporary couture, street couture if you like!’
What’s more, FARA’s revolutionary new store serves as a training ground for the next generation. The workshop houses a talented team of young designer-makers who are there to hone their skills, help run the store and contribute their creativity. And it doesn’t stop there! Anna and her team will soon be running sewing workshops for the public, through which they ‘aim to engage with the local community and create a place that will inspire and educate people in the importance of sustainable fashion and design’.
Of course, the UK has a fine tradition of tailoring, where garments are hand-made on site, but the bespoke and ready-to-wear collections from the likes of Saville Row, are not affordable for the average citizen. THE FARA WORSHOP is one of a new generation of more affordable retail and designer-maker spaces popping up around the UK. Charity TRAID run workshops at their London stores, through which they sell their upcycled range TRAIDremade, and just this month Stitched Up opened their first shop in Manchester where they sell locally-made clothing and run a range of fashion focused workshops and events.
This is a truly exciting concept - a model which I believe could be the future of fashion: textiles reworked and upcycled in a workshop on the high street by experienced designers alongside emerging young makers. Producers receive feedback direct from their customers, who in turn benefit by knowing they have supported a charity, helped the local economy and the careers of emerging designers. What’s more, shoppers discover who made their clothes and what their new garment used to be, plus they can learn how to make, mend and care for their clothes on site. In knowing all of this, they begin to build their own story around each garment and connect with their clothes even more deeply.
Where to buy:
THE FARA WORKSHOP
28-32 Pentonville Road
London, N1 9HJ
Those not within a stone’s throw of North London need not fear – from April THE FARA WORKSHOP will be selling some of their collection online: www.thefaraworkshop.org. And if my prediction is right, you will hopefully be seeing a workshop on a high street near you very soon.
FARA has been actively working with children and young people who suffer with financial hardships and disabilities in Romania since 1991. This has included setting up children’s homes, childcare services including foster care, special needs education and therapy centres and prevention of school abandonment for families living in poverty. Over 80% of the funds required to run the Charity’s programmes is raised by the fifty UK charity shops. For more information, visit their website: www.faracharity.org
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Founder and Director of The Good Wardrobe. Lover of charity shops and mending stuff. New to Bristol. Follow on Twitter
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