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Camberwell College of Arts

125 Years of Cordwainers. Celebrating our history; supporting our future.

Cordwainers at London College of Fashion is a global leader in footwear and accessories education which, throughout its 125-year history, has supported, shaped and influenced its related industry.

Here we share some of our biggest successes, celebrate our history and launch a campaign that invites you to join us in fashioning our future.

How to support our campaign

Cordwainers 125 Events

Footwear design by Jubin Yoo, BA Cordwainers Footwear

If you are interested in receiving any more information about these events, please contact our Events Team on events@fashion.arts.ac.uk or 0207 514 2074.

To mark the 125th anniversary of Cordwainers at LCF, we are planning a year of activity to celebrate the success of our students and alumni whilst, at the same time, raising a minimum of £125,000 in order to support the next generation of footwear and accessories designers.

Forthcoming:

  • Gala Dinner and Auction, Sept 2013

    The finale of our 125th anniversary year will be marked by a gala dinner, coinciding with London Fashion Week in September 2013. The event will be held in a prestigious central London venue and will incorporate a fundraising auction which will allow guests an opportunity to bid for items and experiences that money simply cannot buy.

Past:

  • Launch event at Golden Lane, Nov 2012

    Read about the launch event on the Snapshot blog.

  • Leather: Second Skin exhibition, Nov 2012 - Jan 2013

    An exhibition at the Fashion Space Gallery celebrating the use and interrogation of leather by students, alumni and practioners at the college. Read more on the events blog.

Our Impact on the UK GDP

Together our alumni are responsible for a direct contribution to the UK GDP. The value of the UK footwear market stands at £6bn, with handbags directly contributing a further £1bn. As the leading footwear and accessories design educator, our students and alumni therefore play a valuable role in the British economy, in which innovation and creativity have become so important.

Confirmation of the role Cordwainers at London College of Fashion plays in the economic, intellectual and social life of the nation came in 2008, when The Queen presented the department with the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Image: Bicycle pannier design by Christina Hamilton

Celebrating our history

Founded in Bethnal Green in 1887, the joint project of the Worshipful Companies of Cordwainers and Leathersellers, Cordwainers’ College merged with London College of Fashion in 2000. London College of Fashion is the UK’s only college which specialises in fashion education and is itself a constituent college of University of the Arts London, Europe’s largest university dedicated to the study of arts, communication and design.

Historically, Cordwainers’ College has always held a strong technical focus, intended to support the burgeoning British footwear and manufacturing industry. However during the latter part of the 20th century, like a lot of British manufacturing, the British footwear industry went into decline, which could have had adverse implications for the College’s technically biased portfolio of courses, were it not for the progressive thinking of the Cordwainers’ College staff who developed the then radical approach that, whilst the technical grounding should remain fundamental to the syllabus, design would be incorporated as the value-added element.

This change enabled the College to keep its world lead and the change and nature of its academic provision was to prove the basis upon which the British shoe and accessories industry has built a strong and profitable position at the forefront of international competition.

A student in our workshops, c.1947

Our students and alumni

Accessory design by Vesna Pesic, MA Fashion Artefact

Award winning design by Gareth Bryn Lewis, MA Fashion Artefact

Footwear design by Paul Kim, MA Fashion Footwear

Awards gained by LCF students and alumni

  • Student Footwear and Accessories Designer of the Year
  • Independent Handbag Designer Awards
  • International Talent Support Awards
  • Drapers Young Accessories Designer of the Year Award
  • Accessories Award, British Fashion Awards 2012 - Nicholas Kirkwood

Our alumni are household names

The College also boasts alumni who hold senior design positions in a number of leading footwear and accessories brands.

Courses

Cordwainers on Showtime