Let’s talk about disruption.
You’d think (for a field all about what’s “new”) we wouldn’t be so surprised by the ways in which fashion is rapidly changing. We see NFTs opening the door to more equitable revenue sharing and better IP protection. We see amazing innovations pairing AI and blockchain to solve the issues of deadstock and we see the implementation of AR and VR across websites and fashion weeks. But, how have we disrupted fashion education?
Are we making sure that we’re empowering the next generation to test the limits of these technologies and develop ones yet unimagined? Are we using it to make better progress on DEI by deconstructing mythologies of fashion which no longer serve us societally and developmentally? Are we using technology to empower kids who love fashion right now -Gen Z and those that follow? NYC-based handbag designer and consultant Alicia Skehan thinks we haven’t done enough. “Gen Z places such high importance of a brand’s commitment to sustainability as consumers now,” she said. “Imagine what impact a future generation could have on design technology, sustainability, and DEI if they learn how to build product, about materials, and the supply chain etc. now?”
I’ve imagined exactly that, and I’m here to make it a reality – one informed by the fact that technologies like 3D and Augmented Reality are here to stay. I am here today compelling CFDA members — the best of American fashion design— to rally behind a little red mission to use inclusive storytelling and tech to empower the next generation of fashion lovers, leaders, and creatives.
My COVID-founded startup Little Red Fashion is the first company focused solely on creating children’s books, tools, and tech to inspire and educate them at the very start of their fashion journey through a lens of DEI and sustainability. By pulling back the curtain on the how, what, and why of what we do, we stand only to gain better prepared future design students, and talents. We also stand to make having nuanced conversations easier between kids who love fashion and the grown-ups in their lives. We have a unique opportunity to showcase fashion & dress history/studies as the crucible of self and societal exploration it has always been; all the while combating multiple -obias and -isms at their root before they take hold of impressionable young hearts and minds.
We simply cannot expect the next Balenciaga without the next Marquesa De Casa Torres. Through storytelling, technology, and collaboration, we can come together to immerse kids in their passions the same way that 10-year old Cristóbal was immersed in the couture archive of the great lady that was to be his patroness. After all, one of the last areas of fashion to be disrupted is education and we must do so by making it more accessible to kids who love it in ways never before imagined. In the immortal words of Eleanor Lambert: “See the things right in front of you that are not done and should be done.” For me, that means creating the tools I (and many of you it seems) wish we’d had so many years ago, and bringing together the world of fashion to do it.
By all accounts, we are not doing all we can to meet kids and young fashion lovers where they’re at with basics, so that, by the time the reach the halls of Parsons or FIT, they’ve got more key skills from the jump. As fit-tech startup founder and SCAD alum Gheri Thomas said: “By the time I started my studies, I was overwhelmed by the amount of information I was taking in on just the basics of garment construction and design, imagine how much embarrassment and grief could have been avoided if I had the tools Little Red Fashion is developing for kids like little 9-year old me?” Gheri’s right. When was the last time you saw a kid go to Juilliard for violin having first been taught music in high school? Rarely. Yet, most youth fashion programs do just that. They begin a day late and a dollar short when compared to other art forms or creative fields. That ends now. It ends with Little Red Fashion. Join me so that (in what will feel like a New York minute) we can send an entire generation of tech-empowered future Balenciagas to the halls of our best design schools ready to meet the challenges of tomorrow better prepared than ever. Doing so is as simple as a few questions and as little as 10 minutes.
Our Little Red Village interview series and its 1-question interview sibling #ICanDoThat is like “Inside the Actor’s Studio” meets fashion but for kids, with the purpose of providing inspiration and mentorship for all interested in any of the diverse fields that make up the industry from textile manufacturing to styling, design, business, and more. It’s an ideal vehicle for showcasing the work of strategic partners and highlighting those in fashion who share our commitment to DEI and sustainability.
If you’d like to become part of our Little Red Village and take part in paying it forward to the future of fashion as they begin their journey, we should talk. Until then, explore our website at www.LittleRedFashion.com and consider joining our mailing list to keep up with our mission to ensure Fashion is for Everyone. You can reach me at
Jonathan@LittleRedFashion.com
