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Oxo Tower Wharf x ARTSTHREAD have partnered up with support from the Cultural Recovery Fund to launch a Graduate Residency Programme.
This has given two designer-makers a complimentary studio residency for a four-month period between September - December 2021. Their studios will be in the heart of London at our iconic Oxo Tower Wharf, on the South Bank.
The aim of the residency is to support emerging designers to launch their studios, giving them a space to work, showcase their creativity and sell in the heart of London. After a tricky 18 months, this programme aims to create opportunities for emerging designers who might otherwise struggle to find an affordable space to work and sell from in London.
We have partnered with ARTSTHREAD who, for over 12 years, have supported and nurtured a future generation of creative graduates, providing opportunities that help students gain employment or launch their own brands.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the Graduate Residency Programme are….
Freya Grötecke & Julia Forslund founders of genderless knitwear brand Ecke Faei
Monica Tong x Wai Yan Choi, a craft and design duo specialising in ceramics, jewellery and glass.
Ecke Faei was created during the 2020 lockdown by Freya Grötecke & Julia Forslund who met whilst attending Kingston School of Art. Drawing from their shared backgrounds, the duo design fragile knitwear pieces for all sizes and gender identities. They aim to create slow fashion that subverts the ideas of working-class aesthetics and get to celebrate where they come from in a high fashion world. Having graduated in summer 2021, Freya and Julia are taking Ecke Faei from strength to strength, garnering the attention of celebrity stylists and securing press coverage from the likes of i-D and TMRW Magazine.
Monica Tong and Wai Yan Choi also graduated in summer 2021, both from Royal College of Art’s Ceramic and Glass department, “We would like to use the space to work collaboratively by incorporating different materials into our design, hosting skillshare workshops, as well as pop up exhibitions. By taking on further experiments and collaborations with other artists as well as showcasing our working process with the possibility of gaining instant feedback from the market, we can carry on working in the momentum after graduation”
Sophie Cain, our Design Curator at Oxo Tower Wharf, said “The aim of the residencies is to support emerging designers to launch their studios with a space to work, showcase and sell in the heart of cultural London. Setting these graduates up in studios amongst our existing creative community of designer-makers and small businesses will be mutually beneficial and we’re hoping to see collaborations and new ideas develop as a result. We had so many brilliant applications and although it was tough to narrow it down, we are delighted with our selected residents and I’m really excited to see what they do with their spaces”.
Interested in finding out more?